CalCOFI.io CalCOFI.io open data ecosystem

Orcinus orca

Killer Whale

Speciesaccepted · checked 2026-08-05WoRMS 137102ITIS 180469key worms:137102
i

2026-08-05: itis_id 180469 via WoRMS external link

calcofi:marine_mammals

The orca, or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus Orcinus, it is recognizable by its distinct pigmentation; being mostly black on top, white on the bottom and having recognizable white eye patches.W CalCOFI holds 21 observations of it in 2 datasets between 1987 and 2022.R

21
observations
21
records
20
sampling events
1987–2022
years
2
datasets
9.8 m
max length
Photograph of Orcinus orca
Photo · Robert Pittman, no known copyright restrictions (public domain) · Public domain · inat

Observed in 2 datasets
i

One row per dataset, and beside it one cell per year, darker with more observations — the same strip the front door draws per dataset. Each row ends with the name that dataset uses (dataset_taxon); the accepted name is written once, in the title above. A quiet pill marks a name the authority does not accept.

Ways inExplorerdb-queryERDDAPRPythonThis page as JSON

Code and endpoints ERDDAP · R · Python · JSON
ERDDAPCalCOFI's own server, the Seabirds & Marine Mammals table constrained to this taxon
https://erddap.calcofi.io/erddap/tabledap/farallon_bird-mammal.html?&taxon_key=%22worms:137102%22

Read from taxa.json of release v2026.10.20, written at release by calcofi4db::build_taxa_catalog(). The catalog's index is /species/.

How big is it 9.8 m max
Killer Whale9.8 m
a person1.7 m

max · sealifebase

Every mark is a measured length with its own source — hover one to read it. The reference objects are _data/size_reference.csv: two of them, the 505 µm bongo mesh and the net's ring, are CalCOFI's own sampling gear.

Lineage 14 ranks · Biota to Orcinus
Credits silhouette · photo · text · length
  • Silhouette · T. Michael Keesey · CC BY-SA 3.0 · PhyloPic, drawn from Orcinus orca · source
  • Photo · Robert Pittman, no known copyright restrictions (public domain) · Public domain · inat · source
  • Text · Wikipedia, “Orca” · CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1372277555
  • Length · sealifebase
Elsewhere Wikidata · iNaturalist · GBIF

WikidataiNaturalistGBIF

The same organism on the services the faces were fetched from; the authorities' own pages are the ids in the head.

Cite the release, v2026.10.20

Cite the release, v2026.10.20; each dataset's own citation, licence and DOI are on its page. How to cite ↗