I hope everyone finds this as interesting as I did. If you like the deep sea as much as I so then you’d be interested to know a fun fact about whales; Orcha’s in specific.

As you all know Females go through menopause (A decline in reproducing hormones roughly between the ages of 40 and fifty). But did you guys know that Orchas along with Pilot whales and Humans are the only three known species to experience it?

Unline most animals whom are able to reproduce their whole lives; Orchas cannot. They start reproducing around the age of 15; and even though they can live up to 100+; they naturally stop reproducing in their 30’s and/or 40″s, but the question was why?

During a conducted research it was found that Orchas go through menopause because they become in conflict after producing alongside their daughter Orchas. The difference is that the younger mother Orchas have a higher chance of their calves living than dying, unlike an older Orcha’s calve whom suffers a 1.7 chance of dying. In other words ” they lose out in reproductive competition with their own daughters,” explained the University of Exeter’s Darren Croft.

I Found this to be very interesting because it was new to me and I never expected animals to go through this.
Read more: http://marinesciencetoday.com/2017/01/19/why-do-orcas-go-through-menopause/#ixzz4i7r2pSWp