Communication lies at the core of orca social awareness. Family memebers are seldom out of hearing range of one another. Their calls are as loud as a jet engine, echo over many miles in the ocean. Everyone knows where he or she is and where everyone else are. Given the strength of their attachments to each other, this must have a very calming effect on them. Communication is an essential indgredient of the glue that brings harmony to the orca community. Orcas make 3 types of vocalizations Clicks, Whistles, and Pulsed Calls. The clicks are part of the Orca's sonar and are used for echolocation for finding and locating food sources, for defining other objects in the ocean and locating the Orca in it's environment. Whistles are typically continous tone emissions that may last for many seconds. Calls simply put are pulsed signals which have discrete patterns that can be recognized by ear and by spectrogram.They are the main componet of the Orca communiation repertoire. The Northern and Southern Resident Orcas have their own collection of calls which is their own dialect. 2 Orca pods that share the same collection of calls are a clan. One of the roles of Orca calls is for them to keep track of each other over long distances, in the dark, or when large congregations occur. Sometimes Maternal groups Pods, Clans, and Communities may be very social and at other times they may be silent.
Social Behavior of Resident Orcas:
Resident Orcas are alot more social than Transients and Offshore Orcas and have bigger Pods, Clans, and Communities as well. Orcas spend their entire lives with their mothers as well as there entire family but they always stay by their mothers side. All Orcas hunt, play,travel, and simply socialize with each other. The Northern Resident Orca Whales are often seen playing with each other and hunting together. when the a pod or clan of rseident Orcas approaches another pod or clan of Orcas they usually one of the Orcas mostly the dominant Orcas which are females in either pod leave their pod to escort the other pod into the area they are going to and the Orca that escorted them go back to their pod. Clans of Orcas most often follow each other in the direction that both clans of Orcas are going, some point in time during this clans of Orcas will stop in their travel and simply socialize and play with each other they do so by fluke and pectoral fin splashing, Intermingling with each other (Rubbing bodies together which is their way of hugging one another) swim slowly with one another, breach out of the water, spy hopping (where an orca thrusts it's head out of the water) Deep diving with each other and socialize for long periods of time these acts of socilazing and playing can last for hours. This same behavior is sometimes exhibited when Orca pods greet other Orca pods but when they get real close to each other they become silent and the behavior stops. This behavior is also often exhibited when memebers of a pod separate to be with another pod (simply to be with other family memebers) for a period of time and when the member returns to the pod that they left that member brings the pod left to be with with them and when those two pods meet they socialzie and play this a Orcas version of a family reuninon. Orcas usually like to play with each other at random times, when greeting other Orcas, When Orca clans follow each other, or when Orca pods reunite. Resident Orcas during travel often stop and socialize with each other to make sure everyone is alright and to be there for one another. This also happens after a hunt for prey as well.
Hunting:
Resident Orca Whales hunt and eat chinook salmon and squid the pod of Orcas chase the salmon together in different directions in order to tire them Resident Orcas dont use as much strategy as Transient and Offshore Orcas Resident Orcas socialize while hunting in order to communicate with one another to decide which strategy they will use to capture their prey.
Social Behavior of Transient Orcas:
Transient Orcas live in smaller pods than Residents. a Transient Orca pod will often consist of one adult female and two offspring which can be male or female. The males will often have a more stronger bond to their mothers than females. Also Transient Orcas are less social than Resident Orcas they are silent when they hunt but once they capture their prey they become quite social. Female Transients often leave their original pod and go off to find a male to mate with and become a part of their pod but then often come back to their mothers after this. Male Transients sometimes leave their pod but when they do they often travel alone for a period of time before finding a mate. Transient pods cosnsist of only one matriline. This means that there is only one dominant female Orca (The Matriach) in each pod. Not a whole lot is known about the social behavior of Transient Orcas.
Hunting;
Transient Orcas hunt and eat seals, dolphins, sharks, and other marine mammals. Transient Orcas use much more strategy than Residents. Transients that live in the arctic they often work together to tilt ice and breach on them to attack seals. They often together hide to wait for other marine mammals to come by such as dolphins. They often together play with their food by throwing their food around and throwing them in to the air. Transients are also playful as well but not as much as Residents. They play the same way as Residents, but the only difference is that they play together with their prey. Transient Orca Whales travel the world everyday. The Southern and Northern Resident Orcas live in Puget Sound Washington and Canada. The Northern Residents live in Puget Sound, Canada and the Southern Residents live in Puget Sound, Washington.
Offshore Orca Social Behavior:
Very little is known though it is said that they are much like Transients but not but not very alike.
Hunting:
Offsshore Orcas eat Dolphins,marine mammals, seals,and sharks. They also play with their food like transients.