DO KILLER WHALES HAVE PREDATORS?
When it comes to predator/prey relationships the killer whale is an apex predator and isn’t known to have any natural predators except for humans, parasites and diseases which can have a significant affect on a killer whales health.
Lacking any natural predators of their own these marine mammals are able to freely hunt and kill other oceanic creatures without the fear of being hunted themselves.
Like other dolphin species (killer whales belong to the dolphin family) they are known to consume fish, squid, octopus, crustaceans and cephalopods.
However unlike other dolphin killer whales also hunt other marine animals such as seals, sea lions, penguins, sharks and even other cetaceans which include whales, dolphins (killer whales do eat other dolphins) and porpoises.
Despite being natural predators that eat other living mammals killer whales do not appear to show any interest in regards to eating people and there are no known cases of a killer whale consuming a person.
There are however a few cases of people being attacked in the wild, but these attacks are extremely rare and once the killer whale realized it wasn’t their typical food they gave up.
When hunting for food these massive creatures can often be seen traveling in packs or pods using organized hunting strategies to isolate and immobilize their prey while minimizing their own chances of sustaining injuries.
For example when hunting sharks one or several killer whales may attempt to distract the shark while another killer whale sneaks up from behind or underneath the shark to ram it and flip it over.
Once the shark is flipped over it becomes shocked and unable to attack allowing the killer whales to attack their prey without the fear of being attack themselves.
When hunting fast and agile prey such as dolphins killer whales will work collectively to tire the dolphin out until it is unable to swim away fast enough to escape.
They have even been spotted sneaking up to the beach or an iceberg using stealth and then quickly leaping out of the water and on to the sand or iceberg in order to surprise their prey and grab onto it before it can react and escape.
While these marine mammals are not hunted by other animals killer whales are well aware of the fact that some of their prey may try to defend themselves which could lead to permanent injuries such as injured fins or the loss of an eye.
Because of this fact killer whales are very cautious and methodical about their hunting methods, so that they can maximize their success rates while ensuring their safety.
Part of what makes killer whales such successful hunters and defenders is the closely knit packs or groups they travel in and rarely separate from.
Killer whales are very family oriented and when one killer whale successfully captures its prey the food is often split between family members and close friends.
Like with humans the bonds of killer whales can last a lifetime.
These close bonds allow killer whales to work together when foraging and protect one another from potential threats from sharks and other marine animals that may put up a good fight when being attacked.
DEFENSE MEASURES
While the killer whale is an apex predator it doesn’t mean other species will lie down and give up.
In fact there are a number of other species that will fight back to protect themselves and their families.
For example female sperm whales are known to occasionally face threats from hungry killer whales looking to steal their small children away for food.
In order to protect their children the female sperm whales may form a circle around the child using their flukes to hit any potential predators trying to enter the circle.
It has been said that the amount of power that can be generated by their flukes is enough to seriously injure a lurking predator and may even be lethal.
Sharks are also likely to put up a fight when being attacked and if possible may attempt to latch onto a predator and trash back and forth in order to wound and injure the predator.
With that said there is only a small percentage of shark species that are known to hunt large prey and form a proper defense.
NON TRADITIONAL PREDATORS
As stated earlier the killer whale doesn’t face regular threats the way other ocean animals do, however they are not invincible and can become harmed, ill or killed by other threats such as humans, parasites and disease.
HUMANS
When it comes to being harmed by humans the killer whale can be affected either directly or indirectly and intentionally or unintentionally depending on the situation and interests of those involved.
Unintentional threats may include:
Over fishing
Fishing equipment
Water contamination/waste
Oil spills
Noise pollution
Ship/boat strikes
Intentional/deliberate threats may include:
Illegal hunting
Unauthorized capture for research
Live capture for aquariums in some parts of the world
Unintentional Threats
Unintentional threats such as