Thanks for asking! Proceeds from the Orca Adoptions directly benefit our education programs and research efforts. I’ve been passionate about orcas for as long as I can remember. Initially, I was just in awe of how majestically beautiful and powerful these creatures are, but as I had opportunities to learn more about how socially complex, sentient and highly mobile they are, my respect for these apex predators grew enormously. Dolphins and whales are closely related. Orcas were given the name ‘killer whale’ by ancient sailors’ observations of groups of orcas hunting and preying on larger whale species. Their Latin name, Orcinus orca, also reflects this observation of orcas feeding on large whales. Orcinus translates to ‘of the kingdom of the dead,’ and orca refers to a kind of whale. We know that orcas are top predators, yes, but not the vicious ‘whale killers’ that the ancient mariners thought them to be. If you could give orcas another name, what would you call them? What do orcas eat? Orcas worldwide face a number of threats. They get caught in fishing nets and gear accidentally, face problems with toxic waste and pollution in the sea. Increase in boat traffic can result in collisions with orcas and an increase in underwater noise pollution.

If you can’t decide which of our adorable animals you want to adopt, you may be interested in becoming a Born Free supporter by setting up a monthly donation. The money we receive from our regular donations is unrestricted, and allows us to support the projects that need it the most. The San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network. For animals that strand deceased, we often conduct necropsies. This helps us understand why the animal died and what health issues might be present in the marine ecosystem. Born Free is a member of the Dolphinaria-Free Europe coalition, established in 2014, representing a global community of NGOs and professionals working together on behalf of cetaceans throughout Europe. Born Free works to raise awareness of poor conditions and encourage an informed public to consider directing their support away from keeping cetaceans in captivity. We are proud to have rescued individual captive cetaceans, rehabilitating them and safely returning them to the wild, and we support the development of high-quality sanctuaries to provide improved lifetime care for cetaceans currently in captivity who cannot be released to the wild. What you can do to help Choosing to pay by Direct Debit helps your money go further; it helps our long-term planning and keeps our administration costs down. NID cookie, set by Google, is used for advertising purposes; to limit the number of times the user sees an ad, to mute unwanted ads, and to measure the effectiveness of ads.No discussion on the seasonal movement of orcas around Britain would be complete without discussing our Viking visitors! Over the years the Icelandic Orca Project has catalogued well over 400 orcas and one fascinating story to come out of a photo ID comparison between Scotland and Iceland is the fact that a small percentage of this population regularly make the 1400 km journey each spring, leaving the herring behind to hunt for seals off the Scottish coast. Born Free campaigns for changes to national and international legislation to bring the exploitation of cetaceans in captivity to an end, whilst calling for higher standards of care and animal welfare in the short term. As a priority, Born Free calls for the end to wild capture and breeding of cetaceans in captivity, and an end to the training of cetaceans to perform unnatural behaviour and interacting with humans in swim-with and petting activities. Captive cetaceans are often used in swim-with programmes throughout the day, as well as performing in shows. They may also be used for visitor souvenir photographs, during which the animals may be trained to jump out and ‘beach’ themselves on the edge of the concrete pool. This cookie is set by TVSquared to measure impressions, reach and outcomes across linear and digital TV. Cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) suffer physically and mentally from life in captivity. The physical, sensory and social environment in which these animals have evolved to live contrasts dramatically with the restricted and barren tanks found in dolphinaria, where cetaceans are held for viewing or performance to entertain visitors. How Born Free is working on this issue

This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. This orca community numbers only just over 300 individuals, and they specialise in hunting salmon, so their movements are influenced by the salmons’ seasonal migrations. Their range is huge as they roam the entire coastline of British Columbia and beyond into southeast Alaska. They live in closely bonded family groups of mothers, sons and daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. It is a matriarchal culture and females are the family leaders. The Seasound Remote Sensing Network, which includes the hydrophone array at the Lime Kiln Point lighthouse. This array is part of the broader OrcaSound.net network which streams live on the internet. This helps us monitor underwater noise which can affect an orca's ability to communicate and find prey. In 2011, Born Free and Whale and Dolphin Conservation published the results of investigations into the status and performance of 18 dolphinaria across the EU. It revealed that dolphinaria were generally failing to meet the requirements of EU legislation, which aims to protect whales and dolphins in captivity. Linkedin set this cookie to store information about the time a sync took place with the lms_analytics cookie.These species of whales, dolphins and porpoises have been seen in UK waters during the Orca Watch. Please choose an area…. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. And finally … drumroll ... orcas were spotted 58 times during the event – did you have any idea that you could witness this kind of orca activity from the UK coast? Help raise awareness of the plight of cetaceans in captivity by signing our pledge not to take ‘Selfish Selfies’– photos that use captive wild animals such as dolphins and whales as photo props. A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.

Having multiple prey items to choose from probably led to the niche specialisations we see today – millions of year ago, different groups started eating different things to avoid competing for the same food. Now these groups are genetically different, in addition to their unique appearance and cultures. It was nearly a decade later before Mousa was positively identified in Shetland as she and her pod were seen cruising through Mousa Sound in 2008 – hence her name. Since then, she has been a regular seasonal visitor to Scottish shores. Even as I write this word reaches me from Katie, my WDC colleague in the Moray Firth, that Mousa, together with her three kids, Gunnar, Summer and Tide have just been spotted off Lossiemouth and only a few miles along the coast from our Scottish Dolphin Centre where they are more accustomed to spotting bottlenose dolphins. Orcas sleep in a very different way to humans. We have a breathing reflex and when we sleep or become unconscious, we continue to breath automatically. Orcas cannot sleep in this way, they have to remain conscious, even when they are sleeping! This is because their breathing is not automatic - they have to actively decide when to breath, and so they must be conscious even when sleeping. If like us, orcas went into a deep unconscious sleep, they would stop breathing and suffocate or drown. Our biggest effort is our Exhibit Hall which is open to the public nearly year-round. Through two floors of exhibits, visitors learn more about the Southern Resident Community of orcas, other marine mammals and the Salish Sea ecosystem. We hope that by learning about this richly diverse yet fragile ecosystem, visitors will be inspired to become better stewards.

L-108 Coho

Swim-withs’ and other public interactions are associated with the potential for injury to both humans and dolphins. Dolphins have delicate eyes and skin, which are at risk from human fingernails, jewellery, make-up and suntan lotion. Proceeds from orca adoptions support ongoing education, research and public outreach on behalf of the Southern Resident Community of killer whales.