Book 6, Question 69
Why Do Orcas Hunt Together?
Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family, and they live in family groups called pods. Working together, a pod can catch meals that one orca could not. Different pods even have their own hunting recipes!
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 6
More fun facts
- Orcas are called wolves of the sea because they live and hunt in family groups called pods, like wolf packs.
- An orca family can have 9 to 60 members that stay together their whole lives.
- Transient orcas eat 22 kinds of prey, including seals, dolphins, sea birds and even moose.
- Orcas have many hunting tricks, like bumping seals off floating ice.
- In Norway, orcas slap herring with their tails underwater to stun them.
- Drone videos show killer whales hunting fish in tightly coordinated pairs.
- Orcas are actually members of the dolphin family.
Sources: National Geographic Kids, NOAA, National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine
Questions kids ask
Is an orca a whale or a dolphin?
Orcas are called killer whales, but they belong to the dolphin family.