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Social Behavior | ||
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Orcas: Killer Beauties
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Social Behavior | ||
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Social structure organization.
The Orcas lives in groups called pods, in which the amount of individuals in there can commonly varies from less than 5 to more than 30 individuals. This pods are their coherent social unit of long term, where are commonly males, females, and young of several ages.
Some times several smaller pods may join occasionally to form bigger groups, 50 or more individual called herds, aggregations, or Super Pods. There is an occasional exchange of members between pods, especially during the mating season.
An small Orcas pod. This one has five individuals.
Social behavior.
The Orcas in a pod seems to establish strong social obligations. Studies of their behavior, suggests that some animals prefers to be associated with other ones. Like many other species, there is a social hierarchy within a group of Orcas.
The females dominate this social hierarchy. The animals get a social rank for themselves and establish their predominance striking the water with their tail, and other diverse gestures and positions. The Orcas frequently hunts cooperatively.
The individual behavior.
The Orcas behavior include
Spy hoping : Hang vertically in the water with the head partially outside the water.
Breaching : Jump outside the water and to fall on flank or back.
Lob tailing : Strike the surface of the water with their tail flukes.
Pec-Slapping : Strike the surface of the water with their pectoral fin.
Spy hoping
Breaching
Lob-Tailing
Pectoral Slapping
Stranding.
It is known that the Orcas have mass strand. As with another whales, the reason for these stranding it is not known. Stranding is not the same as intentional beaching by pursuing prey.
Interaction with other species.
There are other marine mammals, such as Minke whales, Dall's Porpoises, and seals, that have been observed swimming with Orcas, but they may be prey of them from one time to another, specially from the transitory groups.
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