A baby orca is about 8 feet long and weighs about 300 to 400 pounds. The fist thing a calf does at birth is let its mom take it up to the surface for its first breath of air. Calves nurse about 5 to 10 seconds at a time, about 4 times an hour all day. A baby killer whale nurses for about 12 months. Mother killer whales stay close to each other all the time. Some calves stay with their mothers their whole life; others go off and either start, lead or join a different pod.