Orca
Orcinus orca · Animal
The orca, or killer whale, is the largest member of the dolphin family. Different populations specialise in different prey and have their own hunting techniques and vocal dialects.
Key facts
- Scientific name
- Orcinus orca
- Kind
- Animal
- Conservation status
- Data Deficient
- Habitat
- Oceans and coastal waters
- Range
- All oceans, most common in cold waters
- Size
- Up to about 9 m long
- Weight
- Up to 6 t
- Lifespan
- Females can live 80+ years
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Activity
- Social · lives in family pods
- Population
- ≈ 50,000 (estimate)
Diet
Depending on the population, orcas eat fish, seals, sea lions, penguins or even other whales.
Behavior
Pods are built around mothers and their offspring. Groups pass down hunting strategies and calls from generation to generation.
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Delphinidae
- Genus
- Orcinus
- Species
- O. orca
Conservation
Listed as Data Deficient globally because populations differ so much; some, like the Southern Residents of the Pacific Northwest, are endangered.
Main threats
- Pollution (PCBs)
- Prey depletion
- Ocean noise