Killer Whale Facts

This collection of Killer Whale Facts should help you understand more about these wonderful creatures. We encourage all people learn as much as they can about the killer whale before embarking on a whale watching adventure. Killer whales, despite their scary name, are some of the most lovely creatures on the planet and when viewed in their natural habitat they make for an excellent adventure. These mammals love to play and are really a sight to behold. The facts below will give you a good idea of what to expect from these whales on your whale watching adventure.

Scientific Name: Orcinus Orca
Family: Dolphins
Class: Marine Mammal

Killer Whale Facts: General Facts

• 3 main types of species
  • Resident Killer Whales, Transient Killer Whales, and Off-Shore Killer Whales
• Warm blooded
• Air breathing
• Killer whales have teeth
• Males are referred to as bulls
• Females are called cows
• Main activities include: foraging, travelling, resting, and socializing
  • Foraging is the act of hunting and eating and is how Killer Whales spend much of their time
  • Travelling is when a group of Killer Whales travel consistently in one direction
  • After foraging Killer Whales will rest
  • Socializing between Killer Whales is very common, during these periods they can be seen breaching, spyhopping, tail slapping, beach rubbing, and flipper slapping
• Killer Whales produce squeels, squawks, and screams as forms of communication within and between groups
• Orcas have acute hearing and sight both in and out of water
• Echolocation enables the Killer Whale to locate objects by projecting high-frequency sound waves through producing clicking sounds and listening for the echoe
• Over 40% of calves die within 6 months of their birth
• A Killer Whale can reach speeds of 34.5 mph
• They usually dive down about 100 - 200 ft., although during an experiment the deepest dive recorded was 900 ft.
  
• Killer Whales surface every 4-5 minutes when diving while the longest dive recorded was around 15 minutes

Killer Whale Facts: Appearance

• Black and white coloration
• Males have the tallest dorsal fin of any cetacean (up to 6ft)
• The dorsal fin acts as a keel
• Killer Whales have flippers for steering and flukes for stopping
• Most males reach a length of up to 31 feet while females can reach 23 feet
• Males weigh around 8 tons and females about 4 tons

Killer Whale Facts: Diet

• Resident Killer Whales mostly eat fish
  • Salmon
  • Lingcod
  • Halibut
  • Greenling
  • Flatfish
• Transient Killer Whales mostly eat marine mammals and seabirds
  • Harbour seals
  • Sea Lions
  • Poirposes
• Off-Shore Killer Whales eat both fish and marine mammals

• Adult killer whales eat around 3% to 4% of their body weight per day
• A calve may eat around 10% of their body weight per day

Killer Whale Facts: Pods

• Resident Killer Whales live in small groups called pods
  • Pods are determined by maternal relatedness
  • Hunt cooperatively with their pod
  • Pod sizes vary from 3-50.
• Transient Killer Whales often travel alone or in groups of 2-7

Killer Whale Facts: Life Span

• Males generally live to their 40's but have been known to live in to their 50's and 60's
• Females live to around 60-80 years of age

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These Killer Whale Facts are meant to educate the public, if you have anything you think should be added to this list of Killer Whale Facts please contact us.