>>10443258KILLER WHALE, OR ORCA (ORCINUS ORCA), 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.
WILD KILLER WHALES ARE NOT CONSIDERED A THREAT TO HUMANS AND NO FATAL ATTACK ON HUMANS HAS EVER BEEN DOCUMENTED, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN CASES OF CAPTIVE ORCAS KILLING OR INJURING THEIR HANDLERS AT MARINE THEME PARKS. KILLER WHALES FEATURE STRONGLY IN THE MYTHOLOGIES OF INDIGENOUS CULTURES, AND THEIR REPUTATION IN DIFFERENT CULTURES RANGES FROM BEING THE SOULS OF HUMANS TO MERCILESS KILLERS.
