Killer Whales as Predators of Large Baleen Whales and Sperm Whales


Whaling, Oceans, and Food Webs, 2007

Reeves, R. R., J. Berger, and P. J. Clapham

Introduction

The position of the killer whale (Orcinus orca) at the top of the marine trophic pyramid is unquestioned. It consumes a remarkable variety of organisms, ranging in size from small schooling fish to blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) and as taxonomically diverse as seabirds (ducks and alcids; Bloch and Lockyer 1988), marine reptiles (leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea; Caldwell and Caldwell 1969), elasmobranchs (Fertl et al. 1996; Visser 1999a), and terrestrial mammals as they swim across coastal channels (e.g., cervids; Dahlheim and Heyning 1999). If killer whales have any natural predators, these would be other killer whales, as there is some evidence to suggest “cannibalism” (Shevchenko 1975; but see Pitman and Ensor 2003).