Mammals of the WorldCommon Killer Whale
Orcinus orca
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Delphinidae
- Genus
- Orcinus
- IUCN status
- DD
- Distribution
- Algeria|American Samoa|Anguilla|Antarctica|Antigua and Barbuda|Argentina|Aruba|Australia|Bahamas|Bangladesh|Barbados|Belize|Benin|Bermuda|Bonaire|Sint Eustatius|Saba|Brazil|Brunei|Cape Verde|Cambodia|Cameroon|Canada|Cayman Islands|Chile|Cocos Islands|Colombia|Comoros|Republic of the Congo|Democratic Republic of the Congo|Cook Islands|Costa Rica|Cuba|Curaçao|Cote d'Ivoire|Denmark|Djibouti|Dominica|Dominican Republic|Ecuador|Galápagos Islands|El Salvador|Equatorial Guinea|Falkland Islands|Fiji|France|French Guiana|French Polynesia|French Southern and Antarctic Lands|Gabon|Gambia|Ghana|Greenland|Grenada|Guadeloupe|Guam|Guatemala|Guinea|Guinea-Bissau|Guyana|Haiti|Honduras|Iceland|India|Indonesia|Iran|Ireland|Israel|Italy|Jamaica|Japan|Kenya|Kiribati|Liberia|Madagascar|Malaysia|Maldives|Marshall Islands|Martinique|Mauritania|Mexico|Micronesia|Morocco|Mozambique|Christmas Island|Myanmar|Namibia|Nauru|Netherlands|New Caledonia|New Zealand|Nicaragua|Nigeria|Niue|Northern Marianas|Norway|Oman|Pakistan|Palau|Panama|Papua New Guinea|Peru|Philippines|Pitcairn|Portugal|Puerto Rico|Russia|Saint Barthélemy|Saint Helena|Saint Kitts and Nevis|Saint Lucia|Sint Maarten|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|Samoa|Senegal|Sierra Leone|Singapore|Solomon Islands|Somalia|South Africa|South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|Spain|Sri Lanka|Suriname|Taiwan|China|Tanzania|Thailand|East Timor|Togo|Tonga|Trinidad and Tobago|Tunisia|United Arab Emirates|United Kingdom|United States|Uruguay|Vanuatu|Venezuela|Vietnam|British Virgin Islands|United States Virgin Islands|Wallis and Futuna|Germany|Angola?|Bahrain?|Belgium?|Croatia?|Cyprus?|Egypt?|Eritrea?|Finland?|Greece?|North Korea?|South Korea?|Kuwait?|Lebanon?|Libya?|Malta?|Mayotte?|Montenegro?|Montserrat?|Norfolk Island?|Qatar?|Réunion?|São Tomé and Príncipe|Saudi Arabia?|Seychelles?|Sudan?|Sweden?|Syria?|Tokelau?|Turkey?|Turks and Caicos Islands?|Tuvalu?
- Realm
- Marine
Other names: Orca
About this species
- Size
- Males 6–8m; females 5–7m
- Weight
- Males over 6 tonnes; females about 3–4 tonnes
- Diet
- Fish, squid, mammals, seabirds and sea turtles; tropical animals have more generalised diets
- Habitat
- Oceans worldwide; mostly shallow depths, sometimes diving several hundred metres
The orca, or killer whale, is the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. It is mostly black with sharply bordered white areas: the whole lower jaw and the underside are white, the underside of the tail fluke is white, and there is a white oval patch behind each eye. Males typically range from 6 to 8 m and weigh over 6 tonnes; females are smaller, 5–7 m and about 3–4 tonnes. Calves weigh about 180 kg and are about 2.4 m long at birth (Wikipedia, general species account).
Orcas are apex predators with no natural predators, sometimes called wolves of the sea because they hunt in groups. Different populations may specialise, but whales in tropical areas seem to have more generalised diets. An orca eats about 227 kg a day, and can swim at up to 56 km/h. They live in complex societies; in the eastern North Pacific, resident whales of both sexes stay with their mothers for life. The cached account gives no detail specific to India (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)