orcas 's freedom

Some interesting facts about orcas. A lot of these are part of the orcas' basic every day life, however Lolita is deprived of almost everything natural to her.

• Mature male orcas reach about 23 feet, and females less than 20. The largest orca was recorded at 31.5 feet.
• Male orcas can weigh up to 9,000 pounds, females up to 7,000 pounds
• An adult orca consumes around 100 - 300 pounds of food a day.
• Orcas use a sophisticated, biological sonar called "echolocation" to hunt for food.
• Orcas are the ocean's fastest swimmers, and can reach speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, and they can travel around 75 - 100km or more a day.
• Orcas have no natural predators.
• Females can live to be around 70 to 80, males approximately 60 years old.
• There are three types of orca:
- Resident
- Transient
- Offshore

* Resident orcas are the best known type of orca. They live along coastal passages, feeding mainly on fish. They maintain highly social family units. Lolita was a Resident orca, part of a large pod consisting of 80 or so orcas before she was captured.
* Transient orcas are less social, preferring to travel alone or in smaller family groups. They are also more aggressive, and can be identified by their smaller, more pointed dorsal fins. They prefer to feed on seals, sea lions, porpoises and other mammals. A well known orca who was a Transient was Keiko, the star of the movie "Free Willy".
* Offshore orcas are the final subgroup, which live in large pods of up to 30 - 60. Their dorsal fins are crescent shaped with rounded tips.

All three subgroups live and thrive independently of each other, even though their ranges overlap.

• Each orca pod has a unique "dialect" that only its pod can speak.
• Orcas stay with their mothers for life, and their family bonds persist throughout their lifetime.
• Each pod is made up of "sub-pods", that are small units of closely related orcas. Pods are the larger social unit consisting of around one to five sub-pods that often travel together.
• Pods can be recognised by their unique clicks and calls.