Killer whale Facts

About the killer whale

Orcas live in oceans from the Arctic and Antarctic to tropical seas, though they are seen most often in cooler coastal waters. As apex predators, they eat sharks, rays, bony fish and sea mammals like seals, dolphins and whales, and separate populations often specialize in certain prey. Off western North America, researchers study three groups: offshores, fish-eating residents and mammal-eating transients.

Many orcas live in stable family pods led through the mother's line. Their hunting methods and calls often belong to one group and pass down through generations, which scientists treat as a form of animal culture. Some populations are threatened by shrinking prey, habitat loss, PCB pollution, fishery conflicts and captures for marine parks, and the southern resident orcas joined the US Endangered Species list in late 2005.

Did you know?

• The IUCN lists the orca as Data Deficient because several orca types may be separate species.
• Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, Australia and Peru have revered orcas.
• The orca is the only living species in the genus Orcinus.