Offshore Orcas Eat Sharks

In my novel, The Tempest's Roar, I wrote the following:

"Pan knew there are three types of Killer Whales that roam the seas; the first, are a noisy and sociable group who eat only fish. Man calls them Resident Orcas. The second type is reclusive and far more dangerous to other beings than sharks. This is because they eat only mammals, including other beings, in direct violation of the Fifth Commandment. These cannibals are called Transient Orcas and they are the pariahs of whalekind. Much is known among beings and man about both these types of Killer Whales. However, this is not the case with the third type of Orca, for they are a breed apart. They live far out in deep, bluewater and never interbreed with the other two types. And there is one major difference compared to the other kinds of Orcas, which is that although this third type occasionally kill and eat mammals like seals, walruses and sea lions, they never, ever eat other beings. In fact, their preferred prey are sharks. Man refers to this third kind as Offshore Orcas, and they are a fierce and noble breed best left alone by man."

As far as I knew there was no evidence to support this, however, something told me that it was true so I took poetic license and made the statement. You can imagine my surprise and delight when I read that this was indeed the case, as you can see from this excerpt from a January 17, 2011 article by Larry Pynn in the Vancouver Sun:

Headline: Orcas off B.C's coast love the taste of shark.

"A mysterious population of offshore killer whales in B.C. are specialists at killing sharks — to the detriment of their teeth — marine scientists have discovered in a landmark study.
Scientists have long known that resident killer whales depend on fish, especially salmon, and that transient killer whales exist on marine mammals such as seals and sea lions.
But the diet of offshore killer whales — first identified on the B.C. coast in 1989 — has remained largely a mystery due to their wide-ranging and distant movements."

I offer this to hopefully induce you to read The Tempest's Roar, which is available in both soft cover and as an e-book at leading on-line booksellers. I think you will find it an enjoyable read. Its central message is to highlight the damage mankind is doing to the oceans and, in particular, to enlist support for all save the whales organizations. To that end I will donate any and all royalties that I receive from the sales of this book to these organizations up to the first $10,000 I receive, and possibly even far beyond that. So please buy the book.

Killers of the Fourth Kind

To scientists among your kind, there are three types of Killer Whales; the first are a noisy and sociable group who eat only fish and inhabit fixed territories within coastal waters. You call them Resident Orcas. The second type is far more reclusive and taciturn. They are nomads of littoral seas who eat only mammals, including other dolphins and whales. You know them as Transient Orcas, and these cannibals are pariahs among my kind. Much is known among your scientists about both these types. However, that is not the case with the third type of Orca, for they are a breed apart. They live far out in deep, bluewater and never interbreed with the other two types. Although they eat mammals, their preferred prey are sharks. You refer to them as Offshore Orcas, and they are a fierce and powerful breed best left alone by both your kind and mine.
Having said this, there is another kind of Orca, whom I shall call Killers of the Fourth Kind. These Orcas were captured in the wild and doomed to spend foreshortened lives of mindless boredom and emotional anguish in your aquariums and sea parks; or they were born in those confined concrete tanks and will never know the joy of freedom. Either way, they are the equivalent of those whom you keep on death row, and like them, these Killers of the Fourth Kind have nothing to lose by venting their rage in the worst way possible. They have killed humans before and they will do so again. Count on it.