Killer Whale aka Orca

Wonderful calls! First time I heard Orca calls live, there must have been several of them, interesting discussion / party! I really wanna see Orca some day in nature, perhaps in Norway. The OrcaLab hydrophone is near Hanson Island, British Columbia. The Orca (Orcinus orca), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. Species number 61 to me. 🐬

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. A cosmopolitan species, it inhabits a wide range of marine environments, from Arctic to Antarctic regions to tropical seas, but is more commonly documented in temperate or cooler coastal waters. Scientists have proposed dividing the global population into races, subspecies, or possibly even species.

Orcas are apex predators with a diverse diet. Individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey, including bony fish, sharks, rays, and marine mammals such as seals, dolphins, and whales. They are highly social, with some populations forming stable matrilineal family groups (pods). Their sophisticated hunting techniques and vocal behaviors, often unique to specific groups and passed down from generation to generation, are considered to be manifestations of animal culture. The most studied populations are off the west coast of North America, which include fish-eating "residents", mammal-eating "transients", and offshores.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the orca's conservation status as data deficient as multiple orca types may represent distinct species. Some local populations are threatened or endangered due to prey depletion, habitat loss, pollution (by PCBs), captures for marine parks, and conflicts with fisheries. In late 2005, the southern resident orcas were added to the U.S. Endangered Species list.

But... Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are currently recognized as a single ecologically and morphologically diverse, globally distributed species. Multiple morphotypes or ecotypes have been described, often associated with feeding specialization, and several studies have suggested taxonomic revision to include multiple subspecies or species in the genus. 

See Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales (Orcinus orca): Bigg’s and resident ecotypes deserve species status