For killer whales, the answer is....practically everything.

They have evolved to be excellent predators of seals, porpoises, sea lions, dolphins and even other species of whales. Like the southern residents, transient orcas form pods and clans.Southern resident orcas are feeding on fish, which can’t hear clicks and whistles. Transients have been known to feast on Harbour seals, Sea lions, Dall’s porpoises, Harbour porpoises, Pacific Whitesided dolphins, Gray, Minke and other whales. Specializing on Chinook makes sense when one considers that they are the largest and fattiest of the salmon species- the orcas get the best “bang for their buck” by eating Chinook. Thus, their geographic range overlaps that of the southern residents and is a lot larger. No matter how big the fight, though, the sea lions still often go down. This page will explore the hunting methods employed by orcas around the world, and some of their prey.Above: A Southern Resident in BC with a half-eaten salmon, scanned from Killer Whales by John Ford, Graeme Ellis and Kenneth Balcomb.Above: A minke whale is attacked by transient orcas off Vancouver Island, BC, scanned from National Georgraphic, the April 2005 edition.Below: A group of orcas attack a mighty sperm whale (the big tail in the middle), scanned from the Blackfish Sounder, issue 6.Above: A North-Pacific transient knocks a Dall's porpoise out of the water during a dramatic hunt, scanned from the book A Catalogue of Prince William Sound Killer Whales.Below: An Alaskan transient shoots a Dall's Porpoise into the air, scanned from the book Marine Mammals of the World, a National Audubon Society book.Above: An orca, probably CA2, shows off the great white shark in its jaws, scanned from the Blackfish Sounder, issue 6.Below: Orcas eye a Mako shark, which they later killed and ate, in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. They are currently estimated at only 83 individuals.Transient orcas occur throughout the Eastern North Pacific (from Alaska to California). The obvious example of particular eating is the residents (salmon-eaters) and transients (mammal-eaters) of BC. Some feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt Occasionally, turtles and seabirds…

Residents often seem to celebrate festive occasions and gatherings of pods with repeated breaches, tail slapping, spyhops, accompanied by a wide variety of vocalizations.Unlike fish, marine mammals can hear very well and detect clicks and whistles, so transient orcas vocalize and echolocate very rarely while searching for their prey. Closely related matrilines form loose aggregations called pods, usually consisting of one to four matrilines.

Their hunts are highly co-operative and coordinated efforts. Transient or Bigg’s killer whales, on the other hand, are the mammal hunters.

Since other countries haven't studied orcas as extensively as BC, much of what we know of orcas around the world has come from their diet. There are about 320 individuals.The maximum size of southern resident orcas is around 7.2 meters. Harbour seals are often targeted (they put up less … Just behind the dorsal fin is a patch of gray called a \"saddle\" — because it looks like a riding saddle. Unlike matrilines, pods may separate for weeks or months at a time. This photo from the April 2005 National Geographic issue.Above: A massive bull orca charges up the beach to catch a sea lion pup-not the one fleeing for its life in the photo, but another one unseen under water. They present a smaller variety of saddle patch pigmentations than southern residents and don’t have open saddle patches. In other parts of their range transients prey on Dall's porpoises, Steller sea lions, minke whales or grey whales. They usually prey on squids, octopus, seals, sea lions, sea otters, rays, dolphins, sharks, baleen whales and of course, bony fishes. Transient orcas occur throughout the Eastern North Pacific (from Alaska to California). Different killer … Instead, they will use their vision and hearing. Orcas have no predators and are capable of ingesting virtually any bite-sized living thing found in the ocean, but residents select only fish (mainly Chinook salmon) and squid to dine upon, while transients never touch a fish or squid, but prey exclusively on seals, sea lions, porpoises, dolphins, and other large whales.


Their dorsal fin tends to more pointed at the tip than those of southern resident orcas. As you may already know, we are lucky enough to receive the visit of two very different populations of orcas here, in the Salish Sea: the southern residents and the transients. But orcas in other parts of the world are also specialized eaters, and this is what makes them unique. Unlike southern residents, transients wait until their prey has been caught before they start socializing and making noise. Thus southern residents can vocalize and echolocate while looking for their food. There are about 320 individuals.

They present a large variety of saddle patch pigmentations (the grey pigmentation along the side and behind the dorsal fin) and the saddle is often “open” (when the large areas of black color mix into the grey of the saddle patch).Transients are larger than southern residents; they grow up to 8 meters long. Some males become “rovers” and do not form long-term associations, occasionally joining groups that contain reproductive females.
Killer whales are the largest predator of warm-blooded animals alive today.Globally, killer whales appear to have an extremely diverse diet. Most of the time, the saddle patch is further forward on transient orcas (post midline of dorsal fin) than on southern resident orcas.Southern resident orcas primarily eat fish with a neat preference for Chinook salmon.Transient orcas feed nearly exclusively on other marine mammals like pinnipeds (seals, sea lions…) and cetaceans (porpoises, small whales…).Southern residents generally live with their mothers for their entire lives.