Feeding Methods of Toothed Whales (Odontoceti): Toothed whales hunt fast moving animals like fish and squid for food; squid is the main source of food for most of the species. The deep diving sperm whale, which can grow to 60 feet long and weigh up to 50 tons, is one such whale. Researches aboard whaling vessels have found as many as 15,000 squid beaks in the stomachs of sperm whales; most of the beaks come from small deep-water squid that are less 3 feet long and weigh in at under 2 pounds and it has been calculated that a population of approximately 1.25 million sperm whales could eat up around 100 million tons of squid every year. They do not just eat squid however sperm whales also eat animals like the albacore tuna, speedy barracuda and various sharks. One example of the sperm whale's diving ability comes from the stomach of one killed in 1969 off the coast of South Africa; inside whalers found the bodies of two small sharks that lived on the sea floor, which in this area was over 10,000 feet down. Unlike many toothed whales sperm whales don't appear to have functional teeth. The 18 to 25 massive teeth in the lower jaw don't erupt until the whales is about twice it's birth length of around 12 to 14 feet, this is long after it has weaned. The lower teeth rarely descend, leaving sockets into which the lower ones fit. Very few squid found in the stomachs of sperm whales have any tooth marks and there are many theories to how they actually catch their prey. One is that they may lure prey into their mouths by somehow making bioluminescent organisms glow in their mouths and so attract hapless squid. Another states that they use their tremendous vocal abilities to stun or kill their food. Orcas like sperm whales feed on fish and squid. However they are also called killer whales because they one of only a few cetaceans known to hunt and eat other marine mammals. Hunting and living in groups called pods comprising of between 3 to over 20 whales, each Orca has between 40 to 52 interlocking teeth and are generally led by a 30 foot, 8 ton female. This pack method allows Orcas to attack animals that are much bigger than them in either size or number; for instance blue whales, sperm whales and huge shoals of fish. However almost all of the pods seen attacking other cetaceans are led by and consist mainly of juvenile males Orcas and they only attack whales that are old, young, sick etc because whales are hard to kill. For the most part Orcas eat fish and squid as this is safer to catch; there are even reports of Orcas feeding on fish in the vicinity of potential mammalian prey, like baleen whales, porpoises and sea lions; without raising alarm. Orcas use co-operative hunting techniques, an example of which comes from the waters off St. John's, Newfoundland, where four Orcas were seen circling fish splashing and sounding vigorously to coral the fish into an tight ball, one would then go in to feed while the others contained the prey. This method has also been seen by fishermen off Norway and New Zealand with Orcas herding fish and sometimes dolphins into balls that some would feed off whiles others circled the prey. This technique has been accepted as a standard way of hunting for Orcas. Another hunting method is used by Orcas in Antarctica; here seals sometimes hide from Orcas on ice flows. Orcas have been recorded hunting by first raising their heads several feet out of the water (this is generally referred to as spy-hopping) to sight their prey and then repeatedly battering the ice flow, splitting it into fragments and forcing the seal off. A branch of the Odontoceti is the beaked whales, these whales have from only a few sets to 2 pairs of teeth, their function is basically unknown. For instance the male strap-toothed whale grows boar like tusks on either side of his lower jaw that can become a foot long and wrap around the upper jaw; at this length they restrict how wide the whale can open it's mouth. How it captures swallows it's staple diet of squid is puzzling, though it may just suck them up. The female strap-toothed whale's teeth don't seem to erupt through her gums. In fact very few females of the 18 species in beaked whale family have visible teeth, though there is usually some dentition in the lower jaw. Shepherd's beaked whale is the only species in which both sexes have a full complement of functional teeth. It have 17 to 21 pairs of teeth and 18 to 12 pairs on it's lower jaw, these teeth are small and sharp and are thought to eat various fish, squid and small crabs. The male narwhal has only one tooth that grows from the left side of it's head in a slow spiral, the females have no such tooth or in fact any functional teeth. The narwhal is a deep water animal living in the High Arctic region and feeding on small fish, cod, halibut, squid and crabs. They crush their prey in their mouths and swallow the remains whole. The tusk is used in ritual fights over females and has been compared to the antlers and horns of some land grazers. Male narwhals sometimes take these rituals as far as to fight and inflict wounds, studies done in Canada confirm that narwhals have a social pecking order based on the longest tooth.