How fast can killer whales swim

But new research published this week shows that may not be the case. Great white sharks are amazing hunters. They can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh more than 4, pounds. But killer whales are even bigger, growing up to 30 feet long and weighing 10, pounds or more.

But killer whales swim just as fast, are stronger and hunt in groups, like wolf packs. And they have been documented, on occasion, eating white sharks, including in a famous incident that was filmed off the Farallon Islands. Killer whales can swim at speeds of up to 45 kph 28 mph , but probably only for a few seconds at a time. Killer whales usually cruise at much slower speeds, less than 13 kph 8 mph.

They can cruise slowly for long periods of time. Which is faster dolphin or orca? Both dolphins and orcas really impress when swimming at full throttle: bottlenose dolphins have been recorded at 54 kmh, with orcas coming in slightly behind at 50 kmh.

How far do orcas swim in the wild? Orcas are massive animals that swim vast distances in the wild—40 miles a day on average—not just because they can, but because they need to, to forage for their varied diets and to exercise.

They dive to feet, several times a day, every day. Has any animal ever killed an orca? Orcas are apex predators, at the top of the food chain. No animals hunt orcas except for humans. But orcas use echolocation to lock in on their prey. In fact, there have been no known cases of killer whales eating a human to our knowledge. For the most part, killer whales appear to be quite friendly creatures and have been the main attraction at aquarium parks such as sea world for decades.

A lot faster than you or I, but never gonna outswim an orca; orcas can, in fact touch 50kph when they want to. With their size and power, sharks ultimately have an edge over dolphins.

They are called killer whales often because they sometimes hunt whales for food. Some killer whale populations feed mostly on fish while others hunt sharks, marine mammals, including sea lions, seals, walruses and even large whales and Great white sharks. Imagine what it's like for a tiny insect to jump and fly as quickly as they do. They live far from coastlines and have been seen eating fish and sharks, but relatively little is known about them.

Type 1 orcas are generalist eaters and have been observed eating fish and seals around European countries, including Norway and Scotland. Type 2 orcas are rarer and mainly eat other whales and dolphins. Scientists didn't have sufficient data when it was last assessed in due to the uncertainty regarding its taxonomic classification — whether orcas should be split into different subspecies or species.

The IUCN noted that as a single species, the killer whale is abundant and widely distributed. However, they still face threats from human activities and some regional populations, such as the orcas dependent on bluefin tuna in the Strait of Gibraltar, have declined significantly.

Human civilizations around the world kill orcas directly and indirectly. They are still hunted for food in small numbers, or as a means to control their population, in Greenland, Japan, Indonesia and the Caribbean, according to the IUCN. Contaminants in the ocean and seas, such as chemicals and oil, pose a threat to orcas along with disturbance by boats, overfishing and other disruptions to their food supply and climate change, according to IUCN. Killer whales are protected in the U.

Southern resident killer whales are also listed under the Endangered Species Act as they are at particular risk of extinction, due to threats like noise from boat traffic and a decline in the salmon population — their preferred food. A SeaWorld orca named Tilikum was the focus of the popular documentary "Blackfish," which took a critical look at killer whales in captivity.

Tilikum was involved in three human deaths, including that of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau in The documentary created a public backlash against SeaWorld, and in the marine park chain announced that it was ending its killer whale breeding program, Live Science previously reported.

Tilikum died of a bacterial infection at SeaWorld in at the age of Another famous captive orca was Keiko, who played Willy in the film "Free Willy. Keiko was trained to catch wild fish and was released off the coast of Iceland in He swam to the coast of Norway but died of pneumonia, 18 months after his release, at the age of 27, according to BBC News. An all-white orca named "Iceberg" was spotted in waters around the Commander Islands, off the east coast of Russia, in , Live Science previously reported.