Greedy killer whale eats 27 porpoises and seals
by Henry Nicholls from on (#AYGA)
In 1861, a dissection of a dead killer whale revealed the presence of 27 large mammals in its stomach. It was so surprising that Jules Verne wrote the beast into Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
Name: The greedy orca
Species: Orcinus orca
Dates: ?-1861
Claim to fame: Jules Verne mentioned it in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Where now: Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen
The killer whale's stomach was vast. But even seasoned whale anatomist Daniel Friedrich Eschricht was surprised by what he found inside. No sooner had he cut through the thick intestinal wall, than out slithered five or six dead seals, some large, some small, their fleshy bodies intertwined.
