Few animals have such an undeserved bad reputation as orcas do. I mean, who decided to call them killer whales? When they’re not whales and no more a killer than any other apex predator.

And there’s never been a recorded case of a wild orca attacking a human.

Whatever you call them, orcas are fascinating, intelligent creatures with complex social structures. We’ve been seeing them around for the past few weeks in Cabo, so here’s a little bit more to know about them!

Basic facts

🐟 Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family

🐟 They can weigh over 5 tons and measure over 8 meters

🐟 In the wild, orcas can live between 50-90 years

🐟 Orcas are among the fastest marine mammals, with speeds of up to 48 km/h

🐟 They have about 45 teeth, each around 7.6 centimeters long. The teeth are shaped for ripping and tearing prey apart, which they swallow in one gulp

🐟 Orcas sleep with one eye open. Like all ocean mammals, they have to come up to the surface for air, so half their brain sleeps while the other half stays alert to breathe!

🐟 The name “whale killer,” which later became killer whale, was given to them by sailors who saw them hunting whales

What do orcas eat?

Orcas have been highly successful at spreading geographically. They are found in every ocean and don’t migrate, so each orca population is native to their location.

And as apex predators at the top of the food chain, no other animals hunt orcas except humans.

The whales in Baja California have a varied diet of fish, sea lions, rays, dolphins, and even small whales. We even saw them eat a turtle during one of our expeditions!

But regardless of diet, they eat a lot! A killer whale may eat an average of 227 kilograms of food a day!

How do orcas hunt?

Orcas are camouflage kings.

Like many ocean predators, their underbelly is white so that a prey looking up cannot tell it apart from the surface light. And their backs are black so that they blend with the ocean depths when an unsuspecting prey is looking down from the surface.

And unlike sharks, orcas are thought to have no sense of smell. They hunt with their highly developed sight, hearing and echolocation. As well as with a little help from their friends!

Many refer to orcas as the “wolves of the sea” because they also hunt and live in packs.

You might have seen videos of orcas beaching themselves to hunt seals or using teamwork to cause a wave to wash them off a block of ice. These guys know how to hunt!

Orca families

Did you know that orcas have evolved based on their culture? It was previously thought that only humans based their decisions on the knowledge and language passed down in a group between generations, so this is pretty neat!

They communicate and learn from each other by sharing information through a series of specific calls and whistles. And each community of orcas uses different sounds, so they’re genuinely speaking completely different languages!

Orcas belong to one species, but there are at least ten different ‘ecotypes’ found. These are populations with different diets, behavior, vocalizations, and even physical differences.

And they live in matrilineal groups, which means that older females lead them.

The culture in their group will determine what they eat, how they hunt, and what they do for fun!

Dangers to orcas

Thankfully, humans haven’t been very interested in hunting orcas. Their streamlined bodies and speed make them tricky targets. Plus, it would take 21 orcas to produce the same amount of oil as the much slower Sperm whale, so they were never targeted by whalers.

But the main danger that orcas face is that they don’t migrate and tend to rely on one food source. So when their food sources disappear due to overfishing or pollution, the whole population is suddenly at risk.

Female orcas give birth around every five years, after a long gestation period, and they carry their young for 15-18 months. And they are one of the few species to go through menopause, so a female will only give birth to about five calves in her lifetime.

This slow reproductive rate means that when orca populations are threatened, they take a very long time to recover.

Orcas in captivity

As highly intelligent, social creatures, orcas suffer enormously when they are in captivity and have been known to develop self-harming behavior. This was shown in the documentary Blackfish, which contributed to shedding light on the suffering of captive orcas, and today people are starting to become more aware.

There are still about 59 captive orcas in captivity today worldwide, half of them in the USA marine parks. But growing pressure is helping to put a stop to captive breeding programs and the capture of new individuals.

Here at Latitude Encounters, we are proud to share our oceans with these fascinating, highly evolved, curious creatures. And we love when they surprise us during our One-day adventures or Wildlife Expeditions. We always ensure to follow proper practices when we spot these animals, reading their body language and only entering the water when it is clear that they are interested in interacting with us,

Everything you wanted to know about orcas