Bedford,+A

Austin Bedford (20) Introduction McKee/Poole (40) Body English 11,4.0 (20) Conclusion 11 December 2009 (20) Research

All About The Killer Whale Not everything in the arctic tundra is white. I found an amazing animal in this area, when our class had to choose a research topic. So, I decided to continue researching this creature. I found a lot of this information on the SeaWorld website. I had a few questions on these whales that I was curious about. The questions were as follows: “Why do whales travel in pods?” “What do killer whales eat?” What are the dimensions of a killer whale?” “What climates do whales prefer?” and some other exiting information that you wouldn’t expect! The first question I had was, “Why do whales travel in pods?” Whales travel in pods to protect each other. All whales travel in pod, some maybe for different reasons than others. SeaWorld says, “ Females and juveniles generally remain in the center of the pod, while adult males swim at the wings. One or more maternal groups may travel together in a sub pod. Whales in a sub pod are likely to be closely related; a sub pod contains mothers and daughters, and probably sisters and cousins.” My second question was, “What do killer whales eat?” I thought that perhaps whales ate fish, but I wondered why they were called killer if they only ate fish. Do they eat humans too? What I found out is that “Killer whales are without a doubt, top predators in the ocean. Fishes, squids, seals, sea lions, walruses, birds, sea turtles, otters, penguins, cetaceans (both mysticete and odontocete), polar bears, reptiles, and even a moose: All of these have been found in the stomach contents of killer whales. Perhaps the most interesting thing found in the stomachs of killer whales is the remains of other killer whales.” I found this interesting and hard to believe. How in the world did a whale eat a land creature such as a moose? Perhaps the moose died and washed into the ocean? My third question was, “What are the dimensions of a killer whale?” The size and weight of a killer whale varies depending on sex and age. SeaWorld says for mature males, ** “ **The dorsal fin is tall and triangular and may reach a height of 1.8 m (6 ft.). Also, adult males tend to be larger than adult females. Calves average 2.6 m (8.5 ft.) in length. Averages 5.8-6.7 m (19-22 ft.); largest males on record were 9.8 m (32 ft.). Newborn calves weigh 136-181 kg (300-400 lb.) Averages 3,628-5,442 kg (8,000-12,000 lb.); largest males recorded weighed 10,000 kg (22,000 lb.)” Females are somewhat different from the males.’ ** “ **In most females, the dorsal fin is typically smaller and slightly falcate (curved back), reaching an average height of 0.9-1.2 m (3-4 ft.) Averages 4.9-5.8 m (16-19 ft.) Averages 1,361-3,628 kg (3,000-8,000 lb.)” It’s unbelievable that killer whales are able to have, not even their whole body but just a small part of them; like the dorsal fin to be bigger than us! The fourth question I had was, “What climates do whales prefer?” I found that some whales migrate to different climates depending on what’s going on. WhaleRoute says, “Whales travel to cold waters for feeding; they go to warmer waters to give birth. About 100 humpback whales arrive on Stellwagen Bank, a newly designated marine sanctuary off Massachusetts, in the spring to feed on slender, five-inch-long fish called sand launce.” Killer whales specifically, tend to just stay mostly in the Antarctic region.

Work cited "Whale migration." Exploring Whale Watching South Africa North America Asia Madagascar Australia Japan Europe White Whales, Beaked Whales, Dolphins, Pilot Whales and Killer Whales, Porpoises, River Dolphins, Amazon River Dolphin, Chinese River Dolphin Watching Whales in the World. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .

"Killer Whales: Behavior." //SeaWorld/Busch Gardens ANIMALS - HOME//. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .

Austin- You have great questions, but make sure you are not just cutting and pasting information onto your wiki. What other questions can you think of from the informatoin you are finding? Mrs. Poole



__**"What climates do whales prefer?"**__ Whales travel to cold waters for feeding; they go to warmer waters to give birth. About 100 humpback whales arrive on Stellwagen Bank, a newly designated marine sanctuary off Massachusetts, in the spring to feed on slender, five-inch-long fish called sand launce. Questions: __**"Why do whales travel in pods?"**__ Killer whales live in cohesive long-term social units called pods. The size of a pod usually varies from fewer than 5 to about 30 individuals. Pod sizes may change with different geographic locations; off Alaska and Antarctica, groups of more than 100 animals have been seen. Pods usually consist of males, females, and calves of varying ages. Females and juveniles generally remain in the center of the pod, while adult males swim at the wings. A pod is not the smallest or largest social group in a killer whale community. Researchers have identified the most fundamental social units in a resident pod as maternal groups. A maternal group consists of a mother and her offspring (not including adult daughters with offspring of their own). One or more maternal groups may travel together in a subpod. Whales in a subpod are likely to be closely related; a subpod contains mothers and daughters, and probably sisters and cousins. []
 * Where do whales hang out?

The diets of killer whales vary from one region to another. []
 * __"What do killer whales eat?"__** Active and opportunistic, killer whales are without a doubt top predators in the ocean. In fact, they are the largest predator of warm-blooded animals ever known. Fishes, squids, seals, sea lions, walruses, birds, sea turtles, otters, penguins, cetaceans (both mysticete and odontocete), polar bears, reptiles, and even a moose -- they have all been found in the stomach contents of killer whales. Perhaps the most interesting thing found in the stomachs of killer whales is the remains of other killer whales. How this came to be is uncertain as killer whale predation on other killer whales is rare. Perhaps they scavenged the remains of dead killer whales, as killer whales are known to eat the remains of other animals.
 * In the Antarctic, killer whales eat about 67% fishes, 27% marine mammals, and 6% squids.
 * In the Bering Sea near Alaska, they eat about 65% fishes, 20% squids, and 15% marine mammals.
 * The diets of resident and transient killer whales differ as well. Resident pods eat a wide variety of fishes and rarely seek out marine mammals. Transient groups primarily eat marine mammals and occasionally eat fishes.

__**Males:**__ In mature males, the dorsal fin is tall and triangular and may reach a height of 1.8 m (6 ft.). Also, adult males tend to be larger than adult females. Calves average 2.6 m (8.5 ft.) in length. Averages 5.8-6.7 m (19-22 ft.); largest males on record were 9.8 m (32 ft.). Newborn calves weigh 136-181 kg (300-400 lb.). Averages 3,628-5,442 kg (8,000-12,000 lb.); largest males recorded weighed 10,000 kg (22,000 lb.). __**SEXUAL MATURITY:**__ At about 5.5-6.1 m (18-20 ft.); 10-13 years. __**LIFE SPAN:**__ Approximately 25-30 years
 * How much money can you make from an average sized whale?
 * **__What are the dimensions of a killer whale?__**

__**Females:**__In most females, the dorsal fin is typically smaller and slightly falcate (curved back), reaching an average height of 0.9-1.2 m (3-4 ft.). Averages 4.9-5.8 m (16-19 ft.). Averages 1,361-3,628 kg (3,000-8,000 lb.). __**SEXUAL MATURITY:**__ At about 4.6-4.9 m (15-16 years); 6-10 years. __**GESTATION:**__ 15-18 months; 17 months on average. []
 * __LIFE SPAN:__** May live as long as 50 years.
 * __**ESTRAL PERIOD**__ Varies; tend to come into estrus several times a year or more.
 * __**NURSING DURATION:**__ 12 or more months (wean).

__**Other facts:**__

Killer whales are toothed whales and are the largest member of the dolphin family, Delphinidae.

__**White Killer Whales**__

A rare white killer whale was caught on camera in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. []

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Austin Bedford McKee/Poole English 11, p. 3 14 January 2010

//Stuck In Neutral// Even children with disabilities need some love. Terry Trueman showed this in 2000, in the story, //Stuck in Neutral//. Shawn has cerebal palsy. It's a condition when you have some sort of damage on your brain. He can't intentionally talk,or move his muscles. It's a very hard life to live.

On top of the condition he is in, Shawn's parents are divorced! His father, Sydney McDaniel is barely in his life. According to Shawn, "Dad is nothing like he appears to be." (23) At least the little bit that Mr. McDaniel is involved with he puts forth one-hundred percent. For the most part Shawn is with his mom. Shawn thinks his dad is planning to kill him! Not for revenge or anything, but to put him out of his misery in a way. During the whole story at random times, Shawn has seizures. They used to hurt him at first. Later, he started taking medicine for it. So, it doesn't really hurt him as much as it's a thriller for him. He says, "it's like a miracle." (32) At one point in the story shawn and his sister, Cindy both have death stare at them in the eyes. Shawn thinks that, "most of Cindy's friends are pretty cute." (55) I guess under that disabled posterior, he's still a guy!

One of the themes of this book is that we are not that different from each other. Shawn was just a "slow" kid in the beginning of the story. People talked to him as if he were a baby, and he can't do anything by himself. But, later on, you find out how he's still a teenaged kid like you. He just has a few differences.

//Stuck in Neutral// was a pretty good book overall. I was interested after reading the first chapter. After, reading this book I realize that i really need to augment the time I spend reading. This book is a great choice for a quik, cursory read. Reading //Stuck in Neutral// helps you to understand why it's a good idea to try not to call someone a "retard.'" There are people in the world that are really considered retards, because of disabilities that they have.