21 October 2011

Orca imitates an outboard motor


I once had a 7.5-horse Evinrude that sounded like this. The unanswerable question is whether he is trying to communicate, or complaining about anthropogenic noise pollution in his world.

Via Nothing To Do With Arbroath.

Addendum - a hat tip to Lexacq, who points out that this particular orca was well known:
 Luna was abandoned by his pod, and bounded with boats instead in Nootka Sound, BC. This was dangerous, and tragically, led to his death by a boat.
Luna's biography is detailed at Wikipedia.

6 comments:

  1. Luna was abandoned by his pod, and bounded with boats instead in Sooke Harbour, BC. This was dangerous, and tragically, led to his death by a boat.

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  2. Thank you, Lexacq. I've added that information to the post.

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  3. I always found it amazing and fascinating that dolphins (maybe other cetaceans) imitated noises in their environment, and at least in the case of dolphins, sometimes used some of these sounds as 'names' for themselves.

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  4. Luna was in Nootka Sound, not Sooke Harbour, there were several attempts to get it back out onto the coast to try and reintegrate with another pod. Luna became attached to boats, often hanging around the Gold River dock and following them when they went out. Sadly this would lead to it's demise when he struck by a tug.

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  5. Hmm, I didn't hear boats, lol.

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