Killer Whales, also known Orcas are large, toothed whales.
Fictional History[]
Shane Schofield Series[]
Ice Station[]
A pod of killer whales frequently appeared in the waters around Wilkes Ice Station, sometimes even emerging in the station's diving pool for air. One of the marine biologists at the station, Carmine Yeager, enjoyed watching the killer whales whenever they appeared, and set up several cameras around E-deck, as well as under the C-deck bridge, to record them.
When Kirsty Hensleigh visited Wilkes with her stepmother Sarah Hensleigh, she made friends with a fur seal she named Wendy, who was often stalked in the waters around Wilkes by the killer whales. Whenever Wendy was in the station, a killer whale would occasionally surface to try and spot her.
A pair of juvenile males were spotted by Gant and Hollywood shortly after the arrived at Wilkes, and Kirsty explained they were looking for Wendy.
When the U.S. Marines and French Paratroopers engaged in a battle, a section of the B-deck catwalk collapsed into the pool, taking several people from both sides with it. One of the French soldiers tried to swim for the deck, but was quickly snatched up by a killer whale. Everyone else remained still, hoping the killers would only go for someone who moved, however they quickly swam for shore when the dead Legs was also taken by one of the killer whales.
The pod managed to kill three more of the French paratroopers, as well as Warren Conlon. One killer whale managed to get a hold of Mother's left leg, but she shot it in the head, and the impact was increased due to a gaseous explosion, however the dead whale still managed to rip off the lower section of Mother's leg.
When Schofield dived into the pool to save Kirsty, he used his Maghook to stun the whale before using it to hoist her up to the C-deck bridge. One whale narrowly fell short of reaching her when it jumped up from the pool, and as Schofield made his own way to the deck, Wendy swam around in the pool distracting most of the whales. Everyone realised they still needed to get away from the deck when one of the two remaining paratroopers was snatched by a whale, and soon another attempted to get at Schofield. He managed to avoid getting caught on its jaws by using the remains of an ejection seat, which the whale dragged into the water.
A few hours later, a killer whale was attacked by a mutant elephant seal that lived near Wilkes, and its body floated up to the Wilkes pool deck, leaving everyone to realise that something else beside killer whales, something extremely dangerous, lurked in the waters.
Several more hours later, the SAS Brigadier-General Trevor Barnaby strung up Book by his own Maghook and lowered him into the diving pool. The pod of killer whales were able to detect the Marine's presence in the water with their echolocation, and swam up past the rising diving bell. As Schofield and Renshaw watched on one of Yeager's monitors, a whale swam dangerously close to Book, claiming him as its meal. To the delight of the SAS men and the horror of Schofield, Book was brutally slammed into by the whale, killing him before it began feeding.
A short time later, Barnaby prepared to do the same thing to Schofield, however he was able to throw the whale that had claimed him off course by using Kirsty's asthma puffer and his dog tags to make it appear to the killer whale that he was trying to swim away. Schofield managed to get out of the water before another whale could approach, and the pod seemed to have moved on by the time Schofield confronted Barnaby in the diving bell.
After Ice Station[]
After the Wilkes incident, Mother was given a prosthetic leg to replace the one she had lost to the killer whale. She would often tell the tale of how she had lost the leg and had killed the whale, though she would sometime refer to it as a fish despite knowing it was a mammal, and hated being corrected on the issue. (Area 7, Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves)
Description[]
A typical killer whale distinctively bears a black back, white chest and sides, and a white patch above and behind the eye. It has a heavy and robust body with a large dorsal fin. The killer whale's teeth are very strong and its jaws exert a powerful grip; the upper teeth fall into the gaps between the lower teeth when the mouth is closed. The front teeth are inclined slightly forward and outward, thus allowing the killer whale to withstand powerful jerking movements from its prey while the middle and back teeth hold it firmly in place.
Trivia[]
.