A giant dolphin
Orcas are also called killer whales, but they are really the largest of the dolphins.
Polar seas
Orca
Orcinus orca
A powerful black and white whale with a tall fin on its back. It is the biggest member of the dolphin family.
- Size
- Up to 9m long
- Look for it
- May to September
- Where
- Every ocean, but most of all in cold polar seas
Powers after you with its tall fin up. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Orca
Good to know
Six things about the orca
Family for life
Orcas live in family groups called pods, led by the oldest female. Many stay with their mothers all their lives.
Clever hunters
A pod works as a team. Some make waves together to wash a seal off an ice floe.
Family dialects
Each pod has its own set of calls, a little like a local accent.
A fin as tall as a person
A big male's back fin can stand nearly two metres high.
Nothing hunts them
Orcas are at the top of the food chain. Even great white sharks keep out of their way.
The real thing
Photos of the orca
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Britain has orcas too: a few are seen off Shetland, Orkney and the north of Scotland each summer. Watch for a tall black fin.
How to help
Orcas build up poisons from pollution in their blubber. Keeping chemicals and plastic out of the sea helps every animal in it.
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