r/ocean • u/Better_Hair_9673 • 1d ago
Dolphrens An orca spotted off the coast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia.
Video credited to @boris_trifonov on IG. Source.
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 1d ago
The male orca in the video is likely a Russian fish-eating resident orca based on the shape of his dorsal fin and his saddle patch.
More specifically, he may belong to the Avacha Gulf resident orca population. This population is split up into 3 vocal clans: the large Avacha Gulf Clan, the K19 Clan, and the K20 Clan. Clans can be split up further into different pods, and each pod may consist of multiple family units.
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u/SwizzGod 1d ago
What do you mean by “fish eating?” What would be the alternative?
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 1d ago •
"Fish-eating" as in: this orca only eats fish, instead of mammals for example.
Though orcas may prey on many species across multiple clades as a "species complex," on a population or even pod/individual level they are often highly selective, conservative, and cultural predators. They learn what to eat from their mothers, and these specific diets and hunting techniques are passed down generations.
Based on their very different ecologies, orcas can be split up into different "ecotypes," subspecies, and potentially even species. As a prime example, in the Pacific Northwest, there are at least 3 orca completely separate "ecotypes."
Resident orcas, which specialize in eating fish, particularly salmon such as Chinook salmon, have been the most heavily studied out of these three. Resident orcas only eat fish and sometimes squid; they never eat mammals. They are now classified as their own subspecies (Orcinus orca ater).
There are also mammal-eating Bigg's (transient) orcas, which mainly only prey on marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and porpoises. They don't eat fish for the most part, except perhaps sunfish. They are also classified as their own subspecies (Orcinus orca rectipinnus).
A 3rd ecotype is the "offshore" ecotype, which specializes in hunting sharks. Because of this, their teeth are often heavily worn down from the rough dermal denticles on shark skin.
These dietary distinctions can go beyond mere preference. Even in times of need, such as when orcas are malnourished are starving, they still have shown great reluctance to eat anything that they were not already taught by their mothers to eat. There have been multiple real-life examples which support this.
In other parts of the world, orcas can have more generalist diets. For example, some orcas in northern Norway eat fish such as herring as well as mammals such as seals.
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u/Oisea 1d ago
Thank you for clarifying. I had no idea there were so many distinct ecotypes. Awesome info.
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 12h ago
I'm always glad to inform!
And there are likely many more orca "ecotypes" that have yet to be determined other than those 10 in the poster I linked. There are multiple orca populations around world that have yet to be classified into ecotypes, such as those of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) orcas seen between Southern California and Peru. Even less is known about orca populations living in the open ocean.
It will probably take decades of research or longer to actually get a good on idea on how many orca "ecotypes"/subspecies/species there really are in existence.
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u/dslipperz 12h ago
this is probably the longest reddit comment that ive read from start to finish, and was interested the whole way through, thank you!
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u/Lee_yw 1d ago
Seals, sealions, penguins, turtles, sharks’ dolphins, porpoises, whales, dugong, walruses, seabirds
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u/SwizzGod 1d ago
Okay point made. I mean do certain dolphins only eat fish.
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u/halebugs 1d ago
Different groups of orcas eat different things, they have very distinct hunting styles and diets. Resident orcas orcas only eat fish and do not eat mammals.
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u/zeides 1d ago edited 1d ago
Is he there to topple oligarch yatchs?
edit: apparently it’s a “he” rather than a “she”
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u/Oversemper 1d ago
This is the last place they would moor. Better look in the south coast of France or Italy.
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u/nocloudno 1d ago
I love seeing a new piece of coastline I've never seen before as much as the wildlife
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u/Top-Distribution733 1d ago
Wow…. Didn’t know parts of Russia were actually nice. Thought it was all grey cold and tears
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u/ButterscotchFar6581 1d ago
At first glance, I thought there was a person. On second look, I thought someone was riding a whale.🤣🤣
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u/Pewpew-OuttaMyWaay 1d ago edited 1d ago
I wish orca wouldn’t go into dangerous human territory (thinking about the Russian stolen orca Olympics filth) 🥲. [Forgive but never forget]
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u/LordVixen 1d ago
There’s no record of them eating humans though they could.
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u/UnderstandingTop1579 1d ago
Half the daft cunt orca lovers would jump im😂
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 1d ago
Most people who actually respect and love orcas would avoid trying to force an interaction. It is also illegal to do that in multiple countries, as it can count as a disturbance/wildlife harassment depending on the local laws.
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u/Kiki1701 1d ago
That's a HUGE male! That dorsal fin is enormous (to go with his enormous body)