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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Orcinus orca
Killer Whale

 
Scientific Name: Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758)
English Name: Killer Whale
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: M-OROR
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Mammalia Cetacea Delphinidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G4G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: S2S4 (Jan 2024)
BC List: No Status
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
SARA Comments: See populations for SARA status.
General Status Canada:
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Mating occurs late fall to midwinter in the northeastern Atlantic. Gestation lasts about 17 months (IUCN 1991). Litter size is 1. Calf may be dependent for at least 2 years, closely associated with mother for much of juvenile period. Calving interval has been estimated at 3-8 years (higher estimates may be more typical). Sexually mature at 10-18 years. Females become reproductively senescent at 35-45 years. Estimated maximum age 80-90 years in females, 50-60 years in males.
Global Ecology Comments: Travels in well-defined social groups (pods), usually of fewer than 40 (averaging less than 10); sometimes forms aggregations exceeding 100. Studies in Puget Sound indicate strong social bonds and stable group structure. Typical pod contains mature females and their young (1-3 juveniles per female) and variable proportions of of males and/or post-reproductive females.
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		Y /
N /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Migratory in some regions, nonmigratory in other regions. Migrations apparently are related to movements of prey species.

The longest known movement involved three individuals photographed in Glacier Bay, Alaska, on 6 August 1989, and subsequently observed attacking gray whales in Monterey Bay, California, on 2 May 1992 (Goley and Straley 1994); whether this movement was transitory or migratory is unknown.
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Ocean / Intertidal Marine / Facultative - occasional use
Ocean / Kelp Bed / Facultative - occasional use
Ocean / Pelagic / Facultative - frequent use
Ocean / Reefs / Facultative - occasional use
Ocean / Sheltered Waters - Marine / Facultative - frequent use
Ocean / Subtidal Marine / Facultative - frequent use
Global Habitat Comments: Mainly in coastal waters, but may occur anywhere in all oceans and major seas at any time of year.
Provincial Habitat Comments: Marine
Food Habits: Carnivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Opportunistic; diet differs seasonally and geographically. Eats marine mammals (seals, dolphins, occasionally baleen whales), birds, fishes, and squid. May hunt cooperatively. Off Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, "transients" feed mainly on pinnipeds, "residents" feed primarily on salmon (Baird et al. 1992).
Global Phenology: Circadian: Adult, Immature
Global Phenology Comments: Active day and night.
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 910/ /
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: Throughout the world's oceans and seas, from high latitudes to the equator; most common in cooler coastal waters of both hemispheres, with the greatest abundance within 800 km from continental coasts.
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: Dec 30, 1994
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
B.C. Ministry of Environment. Recovery Planning in BC. B.C. Minist. Environ. Victoria, BC.
Baird, R. W., P. A. Abrams, and L. M. Dill. 1992. Possible indirect interactions between transient and resident killer whales: implications for the evolution of foraging specializations in the genus ORCA. Oecologia...
Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp.
COSEWIC. 2008v. COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the Killer Whale Orcinus orca, Southern Resident population, Northern Resident population, West Coast Transient population, Offshore Population and Northwest Atlantic / Eastern Arctic population, in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. viii + 65 pp.(www.sararegistry.gc.ca/status/status_e.cfm).
Folkens, P. 1984. The whale watcher's handbook. Doubleday Co., Inc., Garden City, NY 208 pp.
Godin, A. J. 1977. Wild mammals of New England. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 304 pp.
Goley, P. D., and J. M. Straley. 1994. Attack on gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in Monteey Bay, California, by killer whales (Orcinus orca) previously identified in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Can. J. Zool. 72:1528-1530.
Hall, E. R. 1981a. The Mammals of North America, second edition. Vols. I & II. John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York. 1181 pp.
Heyning, J. E., and M. E. Dahlheim. 1988. Orcinus orca. Mammalian Species 304:1-9.
IUCN (World Conservation Union). 1991. Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the World: the IUCN Red Data Book. M. Klinowska (compiler). IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, United Kingdom. viii + 429 pp.
Jones, J. K., Jr., R. S. Hoffman, D. W. Rice, C. Jones, R. J. Baker, and M. D. Engstrom. 1992a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 1991. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 146:1-23.
Katona, S. K., V. Rough, and D. T. Richardson. 1983. A Field guide to the whales, porpoises, and seals of the gulf of Maine and eastern Canada. Cape Cod to Newfoundland. Charles Scribner's Sons, N.Y. 255 pp.
Kirkevold, B. C., and J. S. Lockard, eds. 1986. Behavioralbiology of killer whales. Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York. 474 pp.
Leatherwood, S., and R. R. Reeves. 1983. The Sierra Club handbook of whales and dolphins. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco. 302 pp.
Ridgway, S. H., and R. J. Harrison. 1989. Handbook of marine mammals. Vol. 4. River dolphins and the larger toothed whales. Academic Press, New York. 442 pp.
Trites, A.W., and L.G. Barett-Lennard. 2001. COSEWIC Status Report Addendum on Killer Whales (Orcinus orca). Marine Mammal Research Unit, Fisheries Centre, UBC, Vancouver, BC.
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Orcinus orca. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Apr 4, 2026).