What do Killer Whales eat?

Killer whales or the Orcinus Orcas are one of the most dangerous creatures inhabiting the sea. So what exactly do they eat? What does their diet consist of? Below are few information all about the eating habits of a killer whale.

The diet of a killer consists of fish, sea lions, seals, squids, otters, sea turtles, polar bears sharks, smaller sized whales, reptiles, penguins, and ever birds. Their diet may seem vast and overwhelming, but their habits of eating depend on the location they are in at a certain time.

The killer whale spends most of its time hunting for food; that is why they eat about 500 pounds of food each day. Strangely enough, there have been some reports of land animals ending up on a killer whales stomach as well as other killer whales. For now, there has been no scientific explanation of this strange behavior.

Not only are killer whales built for the kill, but they are also very sociable. They hunt in pods. They are perfectly coordinated for taking down large or small prey. They heard the small prey in a small are and take turns eating the poor creature.

When killer whales heard, they confine a school of fish or any kind of prey. One by one, they take turns attacking the prey, eating as much as possible before being replaced by the next whale. It is a synchronized way of making sure they get their fill and each member of the pod has something to eat.

As mentioned earlier, these whales have particular eating habits depending on their location. They change those habits once they transfer from one place to another. They adapt quickly to whatever food is available to the new location.

Herding is not always used for hunting. An individual killer whale use their tale flukes as a weapon to kill or petrify larger prey. They use their sharp teeth to tear their prey to pieces and swallow the chunks whole.

The killer whale’s stomach does its thing when receiving a whole chunk of food. One section crushed the food. Then it passes to two more sections where it is worked through the digestion process. When these whales drink slat water, their kidneys do their job of removing the salt, providing the needed amount of water to its body.

Here is a list of what Killer Whales eat:

For fish- They eat surface and bottom-living fish. Some of them are Salmon, Herring, Halibut, and Cod.

For mammals- Some of them are walruses baleen whales, and other toothed whales.

For birds- As mentioned earlier, they eat penguins, and also seabirds.

There are some regions where they eat certain types of sharks and sea rays. And there are also prey that they don’t frequently eat like polar bears, reptiles, and fellow killer whales.