Death of Killer Whales

Killer whales usually live a long time. Female killer whales tend to live longer than male killer whales. The longest a male killer whale can live is believed to be 50 -60 years. A female killer whale can probably live 80 - 90 years or even longer. Average life expectancy is estimated at about 30 years for males and 50 years for females.

In a killer whale pod, older killer whales are greatly valued since they are very experienced and can pass on so much knowledge and skills to younger killer whales in the pod.

Killer whales in some areas live longer than other. Some areas of the ocean have high killer whale calf mortality. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, 43% of all calves die in the first six months.  In other killer whale populations, calf mortality may be as high as 50% during the first year.

Killer Whales diseases

Many diseases and parasite have cause deaths of killer whales. Killer whale parasites include tapeworms, roundworms, and flukes. Killer whales in general may suffer from viral, bacterial, and fungal infections.  In addition, they may develop stomach ulcers, skin diseases, and tumors.  Hodgkin's disease has been seen in killer whales and severe atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries was found in a stranded specimen.

Other causes of death of killer whales

Coastal killer whales are more likely to be affected by pollution, competition with humans for limited stocks of fish, and other environmental factors.

On rare occasions, killer whales are stranded along the shoreline.  Why this happens is largely unknown. One theory behind this is that killer whales accidentally strand when they chase prey into shallow waters. During one mass stranding of 14 killer whales in northern Norway, it is thought that the killer whales became stranded while chasing herring.  All 14 were successfully pulled back into the water and swam off to rejoin their herd a short time later.