Orca Research Paper
Emily Alley
Mr. Archibald
6th hour
12/12/15
Orcas Killer whales, also called orcas, are thought to be the largest animal in the dolphin species. Orca whales can have a total weight of up to 6 tons, and their teeth can even get to be up to 4 inches long. The orca’s scientific name is Orcinus orca (Bradford).
How Dangerous Are Orca Whales? Orcas do not normally attack humans (Bradford). Infact, there has never been a documented case of a wild orca killing a human. The founder of New Zealand’s Orca Research Trust, Dr. Ingrid Visser, has been diving around orcas for years and claims to have never felt any orca be hostile towards him. However, there have been cases of orcas in captivity killing humans. The orca grabbed onto a Seaworld trainer, and drug her underwater. By the time they got to her, it was too late. Trainers at marine parks have been injured by orcas on over 40 different occasions, but there have been very few attacks in the wild (Tocco). Orcas mainly eat things like …show more content…
Lori Marino, a neuroscientist who was featured in a documentary about orcas, states that orcas are actually very smart. She says that they have some sort of comprehension in memorization and language as well as various other things. The emotion-processing area in the brain of orcas is smaller in some areas, but some areas are actually larger than in the human brain. This points to the fact that they have some sort of in depth way of thinking.
Should orcas be kept in captivity? A scientist who previously worked as a Seaworld trainer says that it’s no surprise that the orca killed. His reasoning was that the orca had nowhere to swim in the small tank, nothing to do, and had many different injuries. Those included sunburns, tooth infections, and being attacked very often by the other orcas. Orcas normally swim about a distance of 100 miles everyday, but the tanks didn’t leave much room for swimming. All this could’ve led to the orca lashing out
Mr. Archibald
6th hour
12/12/15
Orcas Killer whales, also called orcas, are thought to be the largest animal in the dolphin species. Orca whales can have a total weight of up to 6 tons, and their teeth can even get to be up to 4 inches long. The orca’s scientific name is Orcinus orca (Bradford).
How Dangerous Are Orca Whales? Orcas do not normally attack humans (Bradford). Infact, there has never been a documented case of a wild orca killing a human. The founder of New Zealand’s Orca Research Trust, Dr. Ingrid Visser, has been diving around orcas for years and claims to have never felt any orca be hostile towards him. However, there have been cases of orcas in captivity killing humans. The orca grabbed onto a Seaworld trainer, and drug her underwater. By the time they got to her, it was too late. Trainers at marine parks have been injured by orcas on over 40 different occasions, but there have been very few attacks in the wild (Tocco). Orcas mainly eat things like …show more content…
Lori Marino, a neuroscientist who was featured in a documentary about orcas, states that orcas are actually very smart. She says that they have some sort of comprehension in memorization and language as well as various other things. The emotion-processing area in the brain of orcas is smaller in some areas, but some areas are actually larger than in the human brain. This points to the fact that they have some sort of in depth way of thinking.
Should orcas be kept in captivity? A scientist who previously worked as a Seaworld trainer says that it’s no surprise that the orca killed. His reasoning was that the orca had nowhere to swim in the small tank, nothing to do, and had many different injuries. Those included sunburns, tooth infections, and being attacked very often by the other orcas. Orcas normally swim about a distance of 100 miles everyday, but the tanks didn’t leave much room for swimming. All this could’ve led to the orca lashing out