FEEDING 



273 



Figure 153. Skull of Killer Whale with few, though big and strong, teeth. The animal eats 

 fish, but generally prefers mammals. {Van Beneden and Gervais, 1880.) 



reports that the Grey Whale catch ahvays contained many specimens 

 whose tongues, pectoral fins, and, to a lesser extent, other parts of the body 

 had been damaged by Killers. In the Antarctic, Killers will occasionally 

 follow factory ships and fall upon carcasses waiting to be flensed. They 

 frequently ignore the guns fired by the crew to frighten them off". Killers 

 never seem to follow their prey across the surf, of which they are said to be 

 greatly afraid, probably because, from experience, they have learned that 

 it covers shallow waters. 



Nor do Killers restrict their diet to penguins and mammals. They eat 

 a great amount of squid, and Iceland fishermen will tell you that from 

 1952 onwards the south coast of their country was infested by thousands 

 of Killers for years, and that these animals not only competed with the 

 local fishing industry, but even plundered the nets or ruined them when 

 they themselves became enmeshed. The damage they caused during the 

 summer of 1956 was estimated to amount to about ^^ 100,000 and the 

 Government, in despair, had to enlist the help of the U.S. Navy. Depth 

 charges were dropped from an aircraft for three days running and, though 

 only a few of the robbers were killed, the schools disappeared from the 

 fishing grounds. 



Even though Killers do not disdain fish, their teeth are not particularly 

 adapted to this diet. True, they have 10-14 conical teeth on each side of 

 the upper and lower jaw (Fig. 153), but the teeth are frequently worn 



