Deborah "Phil" Bryan
                                        21 June, 1995

                           A Bit About Orca

        I've not had the luck to actually work with orca and observe them in 
 their natural surroundings (not even in an aquarium-type setting) in my few
 years (sixteen and a half, to be exact), but I know it'll happen given just
 a little patience on my part.  So, in the meanwhile, I'll read until it's
 not possible anymore, and then I'll keep on reading, and I'll have to trust
 that the authors of the articles and books that I'm reading know what they
 are talking about, and I'm sure they do.  =)  (Anyone willing to hire me so 
 that I'm talking from experience?)

        So, giving them benefit of the doubt, I'm going to tell you what I
 have found written here and there and everywhere about the killer whale --
 orcinus orca.

 ===    Physical Characteristics

        The orca generally extends from twenty-three to thirty-two feet,
 with the males being larger than the females.  Some say the lengths range
 from twenty-two feet, but it's not the common "opinion" that I've found.
 As with many other things, no one can be certain.  They may weigh upwards 
 of five tons.  (If anyone has seen Free Willy, they mentioned that he 
 weighed slightly over three and a half at twelve years.)
        Orcinus orca have dorsal fins, about midway up the upper (dorsal)
 part of their body.  The dorsal fin of the male is larger, and less 
 curved than the female dorsal fin.  Many drawings I have seen portray a
 dorsal fin that leans back, toward the flukes, while the pictures and 
 videos show otherwise, pointed or rounded, with the tip pointing toward
 the head.  Each orca has a "dorsal saddle patch", a white patch located 
 slightly behind the dorsal fin.  Researchers take pictures of the left 
 side of the orca (the saddle patch differs from side to side, and they 
 are trying to keep it uniform for purposes of identification) and use 
 the saddle patch as a means of identification of individual whales.
        Orcas are black and white -- black flippers, black overside,
white underside, black dorsal fin, black save for the white underside,
the dorsal saddle patch, and the white eyespot (for lack of a better word).
        And, they don't look very much like humans.  =)  (Hey, I had to
throw SOMETHING in there!)