#MammalMonday – Sand Orcas from Arrakis National Park!

Photographer Art Wolfe perches on the bank of a Sand Orca to capture the migrating pod in action.
Photographer Art Wolfe perches on the back of a Sand Orca to capture the migrating pod in action.

Happy #MammalMonday!

One of the most fascinating and unique creatures I’ve photographed over the years is the Sand Orca, a rare species that returns to the desert of Arrakis National Park every year to breed. The dry sands are inhospitable for the natural predators of young orcas, while also providing them with sustenance of their own in the plentiful oryx that dot the landscape.

When the young orcas are old enough to traverse the more rocky sediment between their sandy breeding grounds and the rocky shores, they’ll return to the sea, their dusky and ivory skin hardened by their desert experience. One day, they’ll return to these arid sands to begin a family of their own.

I have to say the Sand Orca is right up there with things like the duck-billed platypus, or perhaps the Short-necked giraffe of Wakanda as far as one of the wierdest creatures I’ve had the pleasrue of capturing.  What’s the strangest or most unique animal you’ve ever photographed? Leave a comment below!

Sand Orcas generally migrate from left to right in relation to the frame, making them an ideal subject for western photographers.
Sand Orcas generally migrate from left to right in relation to the frame, making them an ideal subject for western photographers.
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