Where are they located?
Orcas are the most cosmopolitan cetaceans or, after humans, the mammal species with the most extended habitat on the planet. They are found in oceans all over the world, from tropical to polar waters, although they tend to be in colder, higher-latitude waters, where there is a high level of marine productivity.
What is their habitat?
Depending on the population, orcas can be found in coastal areas or in the open sea. Water temperature or depth does not seem to affect their habitat area. Some ecotypes, such as transient orcas that feed on mammals, tend to frequent areas where they hunt their prey, while other types, such as resident orcas (which feed on fish), have smaller habitat areas.
Are they endangered?
Orcas are threatened by:
- Accidental entanglement in fishing nets.
- Toxic waste and pollution accumulating in their bodies.
- Oil spills.
- Boat traffic that can cause collisions.
- Underwater noise pollution.
- Hunting (in Greenland, Japan, Indonesia, and some Caribbean islands), as well as being killed by fishermen who see them as competitors for fish.
- Live capture for the captivity industry (which has declined in recent years, but still occurs in Russia).
- Prey depletion.
- Disturbance (e.g., from whale watching tourism).
- Climate change.
Some killer whale populations are considered endangered. For example, the southern resident population (which lives in the inland waters of Washington State and southern British Columbia) is listed as endangered by the U.S. Endangered Species Act and Canada's Species at Risk Act.
Assessed by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Data Deficient (2017).
Donation
10% of the sale price of this tubular bandana goes to the environmental NGO Asociación Cetácea.
For more information about the work carried out by Asociación Cetácea, you can visit their website.
