Description
The Orca or Killer Whale: Orcinus orca
Growing to a length of thirty-one feet males are slightly larger than females but killer whales are matriarchal. Bulls live to around fifty years while females live closer to one hundred. They live in huge pods each with their own dialect. These giant pods dominate the best fishing areas and smaller pods and single bulls driven by hunger use their fifty cone shaped teeth on ferocious attacks against seals, porpoises, dolphins, and even larger baleen whales. There are no reliable records of unprovoked attacks against humans. The distinctive white patch above the eye is represented by
The Bald Eagle: Haliaeetus leucocephalus
These birds are a familiar sight from the west coat of Alaska to southern California and in mid Canada and the United States. This national bird of the United States has a wingspan of seven to eight feet and stands thirty to forty-three inches high. A scavenger by nature they eat the same fish as the seal pictured in the tail end (female) and behind the dorsal fin of the Orcas.
The Northern Elephant Seal: Mirounga angustirostris
These are the largest aquatic carnivores in the Northern Hemisphere. Males, like the one pictured behind the dorsal fin, grow to lengths ranging from fourteen feet nine inches to twenty-one feet four inches. His large proboscis easily accounts for the name elephant. During mating season this large snout swells up and curves back into the mouth. Females like the one pictured range between nine feet ten inches to eleven feet six inches. Ranging from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California they were nearly exterminated by whalers in the 1890’s. Protection has now built herds back up.
