Free Willy

The recent death of Dawn Brancheau at Orlando's Sea World Park at the jaws of Tilikum, a 30 year old male killer whale, shocks the sensibilities of those that view killer whales as intelligent but gentle giants. Many call them 'orcas' rather than killer whales because it sounds friendlier. Biologists, on the other hand, continue to call them killer whales because it so aptly describes their wild nature. They are top predators that, other than humans, are the only species capable of coordinating a successful kill of the largest animal on earth, the blue whale.Killer whales are a cosmopolitan species found in every ocean worldwide, but they are different at every location they have been studied. One major difference is that at some locations killer whales feed exclusively on fish (e.g., salmon or herring) and others feed exclusively on marine mammals (seals, whales, dolphins, sea otters, etc.). Regardless, they are known to cooperate and coordinate their hunts in ways rarely seen in the ...

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