The killer whale is a marine mammal which belongs to the dolphin family. They are black and white, so it is easily to recognize them. The killer whales are the biggest specimens of the dolphin family. They live in all the seas of the world but it is an endangered species. They are on average six meters long, six tons weigh and they have very tall teeth (as far as eight centimetres!). They eat especially fishes, seals and penguins. They can live until 50 years old; a female has even lived until 98! The killer whales can swim very fast, because it can go 60 kilometres per hour. They are as well very clever.
A very famous film has been realised about the killer whales: Free Willy! It tells the story of Willy, a killer whale, which has been captured and sold to an aquatic centre in order to make a lot of shows and money. Jesse, a rebellious teenager, has done something stupid in this aquatic centre. So he meets Willy and becomes his best friend. But Jesse can’t stand that Willy have a small tank. Consequently, he wants to release Willy into the wild with his family...
After this first film, there have had two other films with this killer whale named Keiko. But unfortunately Keiko died in 2003. He was 23. But two news films, Free Willy 4 and 5 will release in the next years.
They are about 50 killer whales in the world like Willy living in aquatic centres.
In France, there is the biggest aquatic centre of Europe: Marineland. It has been created in 1970 in the south of France in Antibes on the French Riviera. There are many shows of killer whales, dolphins and sea lions. An immense aquarium and a marine zoo are in this centre. Marineland is visited each year by more one million of people. There are three tanks and the one where the killer whales are, is eleven metres deep and thus the biggest of the world. But it is not as big as the sea where they live. Marineland actually has six killer whales and one was born in 2001. It is so the most reproductive centre of the world.
Today the killer whales are endangered and that is why we must protect them.
Thomas 2nd D
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