# Orca (*Orcinus orca*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/orca  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The orca (Orcinus orca), also called the killer whale, is a mammal of the order Cetacea and the family Delphinidae, grouped with the whales and dolphins. It falls in the giant size class, with an adult body mass of 4.3 tonnes, and it is a marine, cathemeral carnivore. Its main foods include fish, salmon, clupea harengus, gadus morhua, teuthida, grey seal, california sea lion, humpback whale and great white shark. Its lifespan is listed as 90 years, with values up to 100 years, and it is listed as Data Deficient (DD) on the IUCN Red List in a global assessment.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 4.3 t |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 90 years – 100 years |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Main food | african penguin, albatross, atlantic bluefin tuna, atlantic spotted dolphin, atlantic wolffish, balaenoptera musculus and 42 more |
| Habitat | marine |
| Gestation | 455 days – 517 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Age at maturity | 11.5 years – 13.5 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.21 |
| Active | Day and night (cathemeral) |
| Lifestyle | Marine |
| Conservation status | Data Deficient (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Cetacea
- family: Delphinidae
- genus: Orcinus
- species: *Orcinus orca* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Delphinus duhameli*, *Delphinus gladiator*, *Delphinus grampus*, *Delphinus orca*, *Delphinus orca ensidoratus*, *Delphinus serra*, *Delphinus victorini*, *Grampus orca*, *Grampus rectipinna*, *Grampus vectipinna*, *Ophysia pacifica*, *Orca africana*, *Orca antarctica*, *Orca ater fusca*, *Orca atra*, *Orca capensis*, *Orca eschrichtii*, *Orca glacialis*, *Orca gladiator*, *Orca gladiator arcticus*, *Orca gladiator australis*, *Orca gladiator europaeus*, *Orca gladiator tasmaniensis*, *Orca latirostris*, *Orca megellanica*, *Orca minor*, *Orca orca*, *Orca orca megallanicus*, *Orca pacifica*, *Orca schlegelii*, *Orca stenorhyncha*, *Orca tasmanica*, *Orcinus glacialis*, *Orcinus nanus*, *Orcinus orca capensis*, *Orcinus orca eschrichti*, *Orcinus orca megallanicus*, *Physeter microps*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is an orca?

The orca is a mammal in the order Cetacea, suborder Odontoceti and family Delphinidae, grouped with the whales and dolphins.

### How heavy is an orca?

An adult orca has a body mass of 4.3 tonnes (4,300 kg), placing it in the giant size class.

### What does an orca eat?

The orca is a carnivore. Its main foods include fish, salmon, clupea harengus, teuthida, octopodidae, grey seal, elephant seal, walrus, narwhal, humpback whale and emperor penguin.

### How long does an orca live?

The orca's lifespan is listed as 90 years, with values up to 100 years reported.

### Is the orca endangered?

The orca is listed as Data Deficient (DD) on the IUCN Red List in a global assessment.

### How many young does an orca have?

An orca has 1 young per litter, with 0.21 litters per year, after a gestation period of 454.7 days (1.2 years).

### When does an orca reach sexual maturity?

An orca reaches sexual maturity at 12.5 years, with reported values from 11.5 to 13.5 years.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Orca (Orcinus orca). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/orca