Animal
Orca
The orca is a big black-and-white animal that lives in the sea. It is the biggest kind of dolphin, and it lives with its family all its life.
The orca, also called the killer whale, is the largest member of the dolphin family and the ocean's top predator. Orcas live in every ocean, in close family groups called pods, made up of orcas related through their mothers. Each group has its own favorite foods, hunting tricks and even its own calls, which young orcas learn from their families.
Orcinus orca is the largest delphinid and the most widely distributed cetacean. Populations form distinct ecotypes with specialized diets, learned hunting tactics and culturally transmitted call dialects, and some may prove to be separate species. About 50,000 live worldwide; the IUCN lists the species as Data Deficient, while some populations, such as the Southern Residents, are endangered.
Photo: Robert Pittman, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the orca
The orca is black and white, with a tall fin on its back.
It is the biggest kind of dolphin. Orcas are very smart. They live and travel with their families.
Orcas are easy to recognize: mostly black on top, white underneath, with a white patch near each eye and a gray 'saddle' behind the tall fin on the back. A big orca can be up to about 9.8 meters long, about as long as two cars, and weigh up to about 10,000 kilograms.
Even though people often call them killer whales, orcas are the biggest members of the dolphin family. They are the ocean's top predator, which means no other animal hunts them. Grown-up males have taller back fins and bigger flippers than females.
Orcinus orca is the largest member of the Delphinidae, the dolphin family, which also includes the pilot whales whose common names, like the orca's, contain 'whale'. Adults reach about 9.8 meters and 10 tonnes. Males develop disproportionately larger pectoral fins, dorsal fins, flukes and girth than females.
The black-and-white pattern, with white eye patches and a gray or white saddle behind the dorsal fin, varies between individuals and populations. Research has revealed several distinct ecotypes worldwide, some of which may be separate species or subspecies; the IUCN currently assesses the species as a whole as Data Deficient.
Quick facts
- Group
- Mammal
- Length
- up to 9.8 m
- Weight
- up to 10,000 kg
- Lifespan in the wild
- 30 to 50 years
Where it lives
Orcas live in every ocean.
They like cold water best, near the icy poles. But some orcas live in warm seas too.
Orcas are found in every ocean in the world, more widely than any other whale or dolphin. They live in the open sea and close to coasts. They are most common in cold waters, such as around Antarctica and in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, but some live in warm tropical seas.
The best-studied orcas live off the west coast of North America. Some groups there stay near the coast, while others roam far out to sea.
NOAA Fisheries describes the killer whale as the most widely distributed cetacean, occurring in all oceans in both open seas and coastal waters. It is most abundant in cold, productive regions such as the Antarctic, North Atlantic and North Pacific but also occurs in tropical and subtropical waters.
In the eastern North Pacific, home of the best-studied populations, Residents have been seen from California to Russia; Offshore killer whales have the largest range of any community and are often found more than about 15 kilometers offshore; and Transients (Bigg's killer whales) range throughout the region, often in coastal waters. The map shades every ocean, because no basin lacks orcas.
Its habitats
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Every ocean, from the polar seas to the tropics, both near coasts and far offshore. Orcas are most common in cold waters such as around Antarctica and in the North Atlantic and North Pacific.
Places: Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean.
Source: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/killer-whale · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Canada, Antarctica, Norway, Fr. Southern Lands, UK, Chile, Australia and 69 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Different families, different menus
Orcas are great hunters.
Some orca families eat fish. Other families catch seals. Orcas work as a team to catch their food.
As a species, orcas eat more kinds of food than any other whale or dolphin: fish, squid, seals and even other whales. But each orca group usually sticks to its own favorites, and it learns how to catch them from its family.
Off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, for example, two kinds of orcas share the same waters. 'Resident' orcas eat only fish, mostly salmon. 'Transient' orcas mainly catch seals and other sea mammals, and squid. Orcas often hunt as a team, a bit like a pack of wolves.
Taken as a whole, the killer whale has the most varied diet of any cetacean, but individual populations are usually specialists. NOAA Fisheries notes that diet depends partly on local availability but is primarily determined by culture, the learned hunting tactics of each ecotype.
In the U.S. Pacific Northwest, Resident killer whales eat only fish, mainly salmon, while Transient (Bigg's) killer whales, in the same waters, take mainly marine mammals and squid. Coordinated hunting, with group members working together, is common. As apex predators, orcas feed at the top of marine food webs, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes they are a cause of whale remains that polar bears scavenge.
Did you know?
A baby orca grows inside its mom for more than a year.
Orca pregnancies last 15 to 18 months, up to a year and a half.
Gestation of 15 to 18 months is followed by at least a year of exclusive nursing.
Built for speed and sound
An orca has a tall fin, strong flippers and a big tail.
It breathes air through a hole on top of its head. Orcas use sounds to talk and to find food.
An orca's streamlined black-and-white body, strong tail and tall back fin make it a powerful swimmer. Like all dolphins and whales, it breathes air through a blowhole on top of its head.
Sound is an orca's most important tool. Orcas make clicks, whistles and pulsed calls to find food, talk to each other and find their way in dark or murky water. Each family has its own special calls, like a family accent, which help the group stay together.
Killer whales are sleek, powerful swimmers with a tall dorsal fin, paddle-shaped pectoral fins and broad flukes; in adult males the dorsal fin, pectorals and flukes become disproportionately large. They breathe through a single blowhole, as toothed whales do.
They rely on underwater sound to feed, communicate and navigate, producing clicks, whistles and pulsed calls. Pulsed calls differ among populations and are learned and culturally transmitted between individuals; NOAA Fisheries describes them as maintaining group cohesion and serving as 'family badges'.
Growing up in a pod
A mother orca has one baby at a time.
The baby grows inside her for more than a year. It drinks her milk and stays with its family. Some orca grandmothers live a very long time.
A mother orca is pregnant for 15 to 18 months, longer than a year, and has one calf at a time. Calves can be born in any month. A calf drinks only milk for at least its first year and stays very close to its mother for at least two years.
Orcas live a long time. Females usually live about 50 years and some reach at least 90. Males usually live about 30 years. Female orcas stop having calves later in life, as people do, and can go on living for many years afterward.
Females mature at 10 to 13 years. Gestation lasts 15 to 18 months and produces a single calf, with no distinct calving season. Calves nurse exclusively for at least a year and remain closely associated with the mother for at least two. In some populations a female calves about every five years over a reproductive span of about 25 years.
Average lifespan in the wild is about 30 years for males (up to at least 60) and about 50 for females (up to at least 90). Killer whales are one of the few species known to undergo menopause, alongside humans, false killer whales, belugas, narwhals and short-finned pilot whales, so older females can live for many years after their last calf.
Family pods
Orcas live in family groups called pods.
Many orcas stay with their mothers their whole lives. They swim, hunt and play together.
Orcas are very social. Most live in groups called pods: families of orcas related through their mothers, that travel together more than half the time. A pod can have just a few orcas or more than 20.
Many orcas stay close to their mother's family for life. Sometimes several pods meet up to socialize or when there is plenty of food. Each pod's calls are a little different, so orcas can tell which family another orca belongs to.
Most killer whales live in pods, groups of maternally related individuals seen together more than half the time, numbering from a few to 20 or more. Individuals tend to remain closely affiliated with their matrilineal groups, and larger aggregations form temporarily for social interaction, mating or seasonal prey concentrations.
Calls and hunting tactics are learned within families, and NOAA Fisheries describes the differences between ecotypes as primarily cultural. Some ecotypes, such as Residents and Transients, share the same waters yet keep entirely different diets.
Protecting orcas
Some orca families are in trouble.
They need clean water, quiet seas and plenty of fish. People are working to help them.
There may be about 50,000 orcas in the world, but some groups are in serious trouble. The Southern Resident orcas of the Pacific Northwest are endangered: only 74 were counted in July 2025. They need lots of salmon, and salmon have become scarce.
Other dangers include pollution that builds up in orcas' bodies, noise and crowding from boats, getting tangled in fishing gear and oil spills. Protecting salmon, keeping boats at a distance and cleaning up the ocean all help orcas.
The IUCN's 2017 global assessment lists the killer whale as Data Deficient; NOAA Fisheries estimates about 50,000 worldwide. Several populations have declined in recent decades. The Southern Residents, reduced by live captures in the 1960s, numbered 74 in the July 2025 census and are listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Threats include chemical contaminants that accumulate in top predators, disturbance from vessel traffic and noise, entanglement, food limitation (for Southern Residents, scarce salmon) and oil spills; one transient group in Alaska fell from 22 to 6 whales after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. Live capture for display no longer occurs in the United States.
IUCN Red List
How is the orca doing in the wild?
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Data Deficient
Scientists do not know enough about it yet to say how it is doing.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2
Amazing facts
-
Orcas are the biggest dolphins in the world.
Even though they are called killer whales, orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family.
Orcinus orca is the largest delphinid; the dolphin family also includes the pilot whales, which likewise carry 'whale' in their common names.
-
Orca families each have their own special calls.
Each orca population has its own pulsed calls, learned from family members, like a family accent.
Pulsed call repertoires are population-specific, learned and culturally transmitted, serving as 'family badges'.
-
Some orca grandmothers live to be 90 years old.
Female orcas can live at least 90 years, and they keep living long after they stop having calves.
Female killer whales undergo menopause and can live at least 90 years.
-
A baby orca grows inside its mom for more than a year.
Orca pregnancies last 15 to 18 months, up to a year and a half.
Gestation of 15 to 18 months is followed by at least a year of exclusive nursing.
Words to know
- pod
- a family group of orcas that travel together
- apex predator
- an animal at the top of a food chain that no other animal hunts
- ecotype
- a group within a species that lives and eats in its own special way
- dorsal fin
- the fin on the back of a whale, dolphin or fish
- culture
- ways of doing things that animals learn from each other, not by instinct
- blowhole
- the nostril on top of a whale's or dolphin's head
Discovery challenge
-
What family does the orca belong to?
Orcas are the biggest members of which family?
To which family does Orcinus orca belong?
- The dolphin family
- The shark family
- The bear family
Show the answer
The dolphin family
The orca is the biggest dolphin!
The dolphin family; orcas are its largest members.
Delphinidae, which also includes the pilot whales.
-
Who does an orca live with?
What is an orca pod?
How are killer whale pods organized?
- Its family
- Nobody
- A group of sharks
Show the answer
Its family
Orcas live with their families.
A family group of related orcas that travel together.
Maternally related individuals seen together more than half the time, a few to 20 or more.
-
Do all orcas eat the same food?
What do Resident orcas in the Pacific Northwest eat?
What mainly determines an orca population's diet?
- No, different families eat different food
- Yes, they all eat only grass
- Yes, they all eat only krill
Show the answer
No, different families eat different food
Some eat fish and some eat seals.
Only fish, mostly salmon; Transients eat seals and other sea mammals.
Culture: the learned hunting tactics of each ecotype, more than local availability.
-
What do orcas use to talk?
How do orcas communicate?
What makes orca pulsed calls special?
- Clicks, whistles and calls
- Writing notes
- Changing color
Show the answer
Clicks, whistles and calls
They talk with clicks and whistles.
With clicks, whistles and pulsed calls; each population has its own calls.
They differ among populations and are learned and passed on culturally.
Experiments to try
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain that orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family and the ocean's top predator.
- Describe orca family life in pods, including the role of older females.
- Explain how different orca groups learn different foods and calls (animal culture).
- Describe the threats facing endangered orca populations and ways people help.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- How is an orca pod like a human family? How is it different?
- Why might two groups of orcas living in the same sea eat completely different food?
- Why could noise from boats be a problem for an animal that uses sound so much?
Try at home or in class
- Make up a 'family call' with clapping or humming, then see if your family can find each other with eyes closed just by listening.
- Measure 9.8 meters outside and compare it with the length of a car or your home.
Key vocabulary: pod, apex predator, ecotype, dorsal fin, culture, blowhole
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Killer Whale , NOAA Fisheries
- Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Orcinus orca (Killer Whale), 2017 global assessment , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 28, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.