page_title: Killer whale
section_title: Behaviour
hierarchical_section_title: Killer whale / Behaviour
caption_attribution_description: English: Black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophrys) associating with a killer whale to profit from pieces of food left by the whale. Picture taken by a albatros-borne camera.
context_page_description: The orca or killer whale is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. Killer whales have a diverse diet, although individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey. Some feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt marine mammals such as seals and other species of dolphin. They have been known to attack baleen whale calves, and even adult whales. Killer whales are apex predators, as no animal preys on them. A cosmopolitan species, they can be found in each of the world's oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas, absent only from the Baltic and Black seas, and some areas of the Arctic Ocean.
  Killer whales are highly social; some populations are composed of matrilineal family groups which are the most stable of any animal species. Their sophisticated hunting techniques and vocal behaviours, which are often specific to a particular group and passed across generations, have been described as manifestations of animal culture.
context_section_description: Day-to-day killer whale behaviour generally consists of foraging, travelling, resting and socializing. Killer whales frequently engage in surface behaviour such as breaching (jumping completely out of the water) and tail-slapping. These activities may have a variety of purposes, such as courtship, communication, dislodging parasites, or play. Spyhopping is a behaviour in which a whale holds its head above water to view its surroundings. Resident killer whales swim alongside porpoises and other dolphins.
caption: Association of killer whales and black-browed albatrosses
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