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Type 1 orcas consist of seven haplotypes and include herring-eating orcas of Norway and Iceland and mackerel-eating orcas of the North Sea, [36] as well as seal-eating orcas off Norway. [4] [37] Type 2 orcas consist of two haplotypes, [36] and mainly feed on baleen whales.
The primary diet of transient orcas includes harbor seals, Steller sea lions, harbor porpoises, Dall's porpoises, Pacific white-sided dolphins, and Minke whales. Among these, the harbor seal is the most common prey; one survey estimated that more than half of the diet of transients in the Salish Sea region consists of harbor seals. [ 16 ]
Although resident orcas have never been observed to eat other marine mammals, they occasionally harass and kill porpoises and seals for no apparent reason. [105] Some dolphins recognize resident orcas as harmless and remain in the same area. [106] Orcas do consume seabirds but are more likely to kill and leave them uneaten.
Some orcas prey on fish, others hunt mammals like seals, sea lions, and otters, and some have even been known to go in packs after larger whale species—especially the babies of these species ...
Starboard’s kill is at odds with more widely observed cooperative hunting behavior among orcas, which can surround large prey, such as sea lions, seals and sharks, and use their combined ...
The skull of the leopard seal. The leopard seal has a distinctively long and muscular body shape when compared to other seals. The overall length of adults is 2.4–3.5 m (7.9–11.5 ft) and their weight is in the range 200 to 600 kilograms (440 to 1,320 lb), making them the same length as the northern walrus but usually less than half the weight.
The seal’s attempt to evade the orca pod was captured on camera by local drone pilot Nick McCaffrey, who had been alerted to the whales’ presence by a local Facebook page and WhatsApp group ...
While most predation occurs in the water, coordinated attacks by groups of killer whales creating a wave to wash the hauled-out seal off floating ice have been observed. [24] Orca packs generally pursue other seals, however, as crabeaters are known to be a tenacious species that make themselves more trouble to catch than they're worth.