Dorsal Collapse in Orca's

A dorsal is a fin located on top of a cetacean’s back. They’re used to help the animal stabilize against rolling and to assist in sudden turns while also regulating the body temperature of the animal. On an Orca, we can identify the gender and sometimes an individual by their dorsal fin, a male orca dorsal fin can grow up to 6 feet tall whereas females usually have smaller dorsal fins.

In the wild, orcas often dive several feet underwater in great depths. The water pressure at that depth is enough to keep the dorsal fins high and straight, as the weight of the tall dorsal fin is reduced. A dorsal fin is made up of a connective tissue known as collagen, this substance is similar to cartilage; weaker. As the dorsal grows, the collagen will begin to weaken if there is not enough support or pressure from the water surrounding it. Therefore, it grows heavier and heavier until it leans and collapses. Some ecotypes of killer whales have dorsals that grow so high that every individual has some sort of dorsal diversity.

In human care, everything the whales need is at the surface of the water: healthcare, food, enrichment, etc. We can see dorsal differences in human care support this. For example, individual whales that prefer spending time under water have taller standing dorsals that those who prefer staying at the surface.

This does not have any impact on the animal’s health or wellbeing and does not prevent the animals from exhibiting natural behaviours. Therefore, debunking the theories that it supposedly happens from emotion, health issues or lack of exercise.

Credit:

Image by hunter.d.photography (Instagram) with Ulises.

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