Alaska Whale Watching Tours
An Alaskan whale watching cruise iѕ а great waу to experience thе natural scenery of both the ocean and thе landscape. Not оnlу will yоu see thе vast аnd beautiful Alaskan coastline, you will bе іn areas thаt have а high concentration оf whales whіch gіvеѕ уou the opportunity tо ѕеe thеѕе magnificent creatures. One оf the mоѕt memorable life experiences I have еvеr had was whіlе whale watching in Alaska; аn experience I wоuldn't trade for anything.
Eye of the Whale
In thе summer of 2000, aftеr kayaking for а week іn thе outer islands of Tonga, I touched a whale.
Learning about Orca Whale
The orca or killer whale is a toothed whale that is an efficient predator, even attacking huge young blue whales. Their only enemy is human beings. Orcas live in small, close-knit, life-long pods and have 1 blowhole. The killer whale belongs to the family of dolphins and is the biggest dolphin. It is sometimes called the “wolf of the sea” because its behavior is similar to that of wolves.
Orcas grow to be about 27-33 feet (8-10 m) long, weighing more than 8,000-12,000 pounds (3.600-5.400 kg). The male orca is larger than the female. They are the largest member of the dolphin family. The Orca’s skin is mostly black with distinctive white patches. Orcas have stocky bodies and a rounded head with a distinctive beak. They have a tall, falcate (sickle-shaped) dorsal fin and large, paddle-like flippers. The dorsal fin of the male is taller (up to 6 ft tall) and more upright than that of the female (whose dorsal fin is up to 4 ft tall).
Orcas are efficient hunters that eat a very diverse diet of fish , squid , sharks , marine mammals (including whales and seals), turtles, octopi, and birds (penguins and gulls). They have even been known to attack young blue whales and other large whales. They have 10-13 pairs of large, interlocking conical, enameled teeth distributed in BOTH the upper and lower jaws (for a total of 20 to 26 pairs, so the orca has from 40 to 52 teeth). The teeth curve inwards and backwards – this helps the orca catch its prey. Teeth average about 3 inches (7.6 cm) long and about 1 inch in diameter, but some are even longer. Members of a pod frequently cooperate in hunts. An average-sized orca will eat 551 pounds (250 kg) of food a day. Read the rest of this entry »