ThaWilsonBlock Magazine Issue16 "The Orca"

How Pasadena Ignores Its True Essence

thawilsonblock.net

Don’t Teach Me How To Work The System.

Teach Me How To Be a King.

StreetGangs.com talks to reps from two of Pasadena’s largest African-American gangs

Cover Story

The

Orca

We chose to honor the Orca because we find it fascinating that an all-black fish is in fact an apex sea creature. The orca, or "killer whale" (Orcinus orca) is a toothed whale and is the largest member of the dolphin family. It is highly social and composed of matrilineal family groups.

Orcas have long, rounded bodies with large dorsal fins at the middle of their backs. Their black bodies are marked with white patches on the underside and near the eyes.

Orcas feed on fish, squid, birds, and marine mammals. Like dolphins, orcas use echolocation - bouncing sound off of objects to determine their location - to hunt and use a series of high-pitched clicks to stun prey.

The large size and strength of the Orca make it among the fastest mammals in the water, able to reach speeds of more than 35mph.

Odd Fact: A lot of Orcas live with their mothers for their entire life.

There is known to be over 50,000 individual Killer Whales in existence around the world. Although they are found in all oceans in the world, they are most commonly found in the Arctic and Antarctica. To learn more about these wonderful creatures, GOOGLE: “Killer Whales” or “Orca”

Interesting Information About Dolphins

Dolphin Habitat and Distribution Dolphins live in saltwater but they can also live in freshwater locations. Only a handful of the species though are known to thrive in freshwater regions. They tend to stick to the shallow areas of the water found along the continental shelves.

Dolphin Feeding Since wild dolphins catch and eat their food underwater and research is expensive and often hard to do, most of the data regarding their feeding habits has come from analyzing the contents of the stomachs of dead animals that wash up on the beach.

Dolphin Reproduction Dolphins, like almost all mammals, give birth to live young, and nurse them with mammary glands, though it boggles the mind to imagine nursing underwater. But the birth of a dolphin starts long before his babyhood; it starts with how Mom and Dad first met.

Dolphin Evolution There are many telling signs that the dolphin is related to terrestrial origins. The fact that they need to come to the surface of the water to get air is the most dominant factor.

Dolphin Intelligence If you were to step out into the street and ask the first ten people you see whether or not they believed dolphins were creatures of intelligence, 8 of 10 would probably say yes.

Dolphin Predators Dolphins are not chicken of the sea; yet it would appear that they make a tasty meal for many predators. And why not? With an exceptionally high fat content, dolphin and other cetacean meat provides great nutrition for predators who stalk.

Dolphin Social Structure Many researchers agree that dolphins extremely social creatures and actually seem to depend on this interaction while hunting, mating and defending themselves and their pods. Typically, dolphins live and travel in groups ranging from 2-40 dolphins. Research has also shown dolphin pods as large as several hundred members.

Manyang Reath Kher, a Sudanese refugee, lost both of his parents due to war in the country. His father was killed and he was separated from his mother. As he went from refugee camp to refugee camp, he was constantly writing letters to the American Red Cross in regards to him and his people’s situation. One day, he got bit by a King Cobra snake and became very ill. To cure him, they electrocuted him‌and he survived!

Once America heard about it, they flew him out to the United States where he would collaborate with American Red Cross, Whole Foods market, & other organizations to form the Humanity Helping Sudan Project non-profit to aid the people of South Sudan in building the infrastructure of their society. He is coming to Pasadena, Ca to spread awareness of his cause.