Editing Orca (section)

==Range and habitat==
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{{further information|Orca types and populations}}
[[File:Orca porpoising.jpg|thumb|An orca leaps out of the water when swimming—a behaviour known as porpoising—in [[Hood Canal]]|alt=A killer whale bursts forward out of the water. Its head is just starting to point downward, and is about a body width above the surface.]]
Orcas are found in all oceans and most seas. Due to their [[Cosmopolitan distribution|enormous range]], numbers, and density, relative distribution is difficult to estimate,<ref name=Forney2007>{{Cite book |last1=Forney |first1=K. A. |last2=Wade |first2=P. |year=2007 |chapter=Worldwide distribution and abundance of killer whales |chapter-url=http://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/FED/00851.pdf |title=Whales, whaling and ocean ecosystems |editor1-last=Estes |editor1-first=James A. |editor2-last=DeMaster |editor2-first=Douglas P. |editor3-last=Doak |editor3-first=Daniel F. |editor4-last=Williams |editor4-first=Terrie M. |editor-last5=Brownell |editor5-first=Robert L. Jr. |publisher=University of California Press |place=Berkeley |pages=145–162 |isbn=978-0-520-24884-7 |access-date=February 25, 2014 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807161432/https://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/FED/00851.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> but they clearly prefer higher latitudes and coastal areas over [[pelagic zone|pelagic]] environments.{{sfn|Carwardine|2001|p=21}} Areas which serve as major study sites for the species include the coasts of [[Iceland]], Norway, the [[Valdés Peninsula]] of Argentina, the [[Crozet Islands]], New Zealand and parts of the west coast of North America, from [[California]] to [[Alaska]].{{sfn|Baird|2002|p=128}} Systematic surveys indicate the highest densities of orcas (>0.40 individuals per 100&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) in the northeast Atlantic around the [[Norway|Norwegian]] coast, in the north Pacific along the [[Aleutian Islands]], the [[Gulf of Alaska]] and in the [[Southern Ocean]] off much of the coast of [[Antarctica]]. They are considered "common" (0.20–0.40 individuals per 100&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) in the eastern Pacific along the coasts of [[British Columbia]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]] and [[Oregon]], in the North Atlantic Ocean around [[Iceland]] and the [[Faroe Islands]].<ref name=Forney2007/>
[[File:Antarctic Killer Whale Types.png|thumb|right|upright|Variations in Antarctic orcas]]
In the Antarctic, orcas range up to the edge of the [[pack ice]] and are believed to venture into the denser pack ice, finding open [[Lead (sea ice)|leads]] much like [[Beluga (whale)|beluga]] whales in the Arctic. However, orcas are merely seasonal visitors to Arctic waters, and do not approach the pack ice in the summer. With the rapid [[Arctic sea ice]] decline in the [[Hudson Strait]], their range now extends deep into the northwest Atlantic.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kwan|first= Jennifer|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/dcbrights-killerwhales-dc-idUKN1922990620070119|title= Canada Finds Killer Whales Drawn to Warmer Arctic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817162253/http://uk.reuters.com/article/dcbrights-killerwhales-dc-idUKN1922990620070119 |archive-date=August 17, 2017 |publisher= Reuters|date= January 22, 2007}}</ref> Occasionally, orcas swim into freshwater rivers. They have been documented {{convert|100|mi|km|abbr=on}} up the [[Columbia River]] in the United States.{{sfn|Baird|2002|p=10}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/divisions/cb/ecosystem/marinemammal/kwnewsletter/documents/email10.28.03ltrkillerwhalesnewsletter1.pdf |title=Southern Resident Killer Whale Research |orig-date=October 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306171050/http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/divisions/cb/ecosystem/marinemammal/kwnewsletter/documents/email10.28.03ltrkillerwhalesnewsletter1.pdf |archive-date=March 6, 2014 |publisher=Northwest Fisheries Science Center |date=February 14, 2007 |access-date=January 26, 2010}}</ref> They have also been found in the [[Fraser River]] in Canada and the [[Horikawa River]] in Japan.{{sfn|Baird|2002|p=10}}

Migration patterns are poorly understood. Each summer, the same individuals appear off the coasts of British Columbia and Washington. Despite decades of research, where these animals go for the rest of the year remains unknown. Transient pods have been sighted from southern Alaska to central California.{{sfn|NMFS|2005|pp=24–29}}

===Population===
Worldwide population estimates are uncertain, but recent consensus suggests a minimum of 50,000 (2006).{{sfn|Ford|Ellis|2006}}<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /><ref name=noaa>{{cite web |title=Killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') |website=NOAA Fisheries |publisher=Office of Protected Resources, [[National Marine Fisheries Service]] |url=http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/whales/killer-whale.html |access-date=August 15, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709160557/http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/whales/killer-whale.html |archive-date=July 9, 2017 }}</ref> Local estimates include roughly 25,000 in the Antarctic, 8,500 in the tropical Pacific, 2,250–2,700 off the cooler northeast Pacific and 500–1,500 off Norway.{{sfn|NMFS|2005|p=46}} Japan's Fisheries Agency estimated in the 2000s that 2,321 orcas were in the seas around Japan.<ref>[http://sha-chi.jp/en/contents/japanorca_01e.htm Ecology of Japanese Coastal Orcas] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822013642/http://sha-chi.jp/en/contents/japanorca_01e.htm |date=August 22, 2009 }}, sha-chi.jp. Retrieved February 17, 2010</ref><ref>[http://ika-net.jp/en/our-actions/coastal-small-cetacean-conservation/215-ten-years-after-taiji-orca-capture Ten Years after Taiji Orca Capture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301122413/http://ika-net.jp/en/our-actions/coastal-small-cetacean-conservation/215-ten-years-after-taiji-orca-capture |date=March 1, 2014 }}, January 28, 2007. Iruka (dolphin) and Kujira (whale) Action Network (IKAN): Iruma, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Retrieved February 17, 2010</ref>