News tagged with killer whales

Related topics: marine mammal

Meat eating led to earlier weaning, helped humans spread across globe

When early humans became carnivores, their higher-quality diet allowed mothers to wean babies earlier and have more children, with potentially profound effects on population dynamics and the course of human evolution, according ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 18, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Albatross camera reveals fascinating feeding interaction with killer whale

Scientists from British Antarctic Survey, National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, and Hokkaido University, Japan, have recorded the first observations of how albatrosses feed alongside marine mammals ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 2

Killer whales migrate, study finds, but why?

Some killer whales, a study published Wednesday shows for the first time, wander nearly 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) from Antarctica's Southern Ocean into tropical waters -- but not to feed or breed.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 25, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (10) | comments 2

Researcher finds missing link between ancient toothed whales and modern baleen whales

(PhysOrg.com) -- Erich Fitzgerald, an Australian paleontologist, believes he has found the missing link between ancient toothed whales that caught and ate fish and modern baleen whales that eat by sucking ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 18, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 13 | with audio podcast report

Genomic Analysis Indicates Mulitples Species of Killer Whale

In a report published today in the journal Genome Research, scientists report finding strong genetic evidence supporting the theory there are several species of killer whales (Orcinus orca, also known as orca ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 22, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

How smart are killer whales? Orcas have 2nd-biggest brains of all marine mammals

Neuroscientist Lori Marino and a team of researchers explored the brain of a dead killer whale with an MRI and found an astounding potential for intelligence.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 08, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (20) | comments 6

Giant predatory whale named for 'Moby Dick' author

(AP) -- Scientists have discovered an ancient whale whose bite ripped huge chunks of flesh out of other whales about 12 million years ago - and they've named it after the author of "Moby Dick."

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Jun 30, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 2

What do killer whales eat in the Arctic?

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are the top marine predator, wherever they are found, and seem to eat everything from schools of small fish to large baleen whales, over twice their own size. The increase in hun ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Russian scientists in quest to find elusive white orca

A team of Russian scientists say they will embark on a quest next week to observe the only all-white, adult killer whale ever spotted -- a majestic and elusive bull they have named Iceberg.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 23, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Juvenile predation preventing Steller sea lion recovery

A new study suggests that the impact of predation on juvenile Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska has been significantly underestimated, creating a "productivity pit" from which their population will have ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jan 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Iconic marine mammals are 'swimming in sick seas' of terrestrial pathogens: researchers

(PhysOrg.com) -- Parasites and pathogens infecting humans, pets and farm animals are increasingly being detected in marine mammals such as sea otters, porpoises, harbour seals and killer whales along the Pacific ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 20, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Feds give sea otters habitat protection in Alaska

(AP) -- Four years after being placed on the Endangered Species List, the dwindling sea otters of southwest Alaska on Wednesday were given an important recovery tool.

Biology / Ecology

created Oct 08, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Killer whales and the mystery of human menopause

The evolutionary mystery of menopause is a step closer to being solved thanks to research on killer whales.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 01, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

False killer whales use acoustic squint to target prey

Hunting in the ocean's murky depths, vision is of little use, so toothed whales and dolphins (odontocetes) rely on echolocation to locate tasty morsels with incredible precision. Laura Kloepper from the University of Hawaii ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Experts sleuth out what killed Puget Sound orca

(AP) -- Two months after a 3-year-old endangered orca washed ashore bloodied and bruised in Washington state the cause of her death remains a mystery.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 12, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0