Killer Whales Senses

Killer whales have well-developed, acute senses.  They can hear a vast range of sounds and possess skin that is sensitive to touch.  Killer whales have excellent vision in and out of water.  It is not known whether or not they may have some sort of sense of taste. 

Killer Whales Hearing Sense

Killer whales have an acute sense of hearing. A killer whale has an average hearing range frequency of about 0.5 to 125 kHz. Killer whales have large hearing range compared to humans - out  hearing range is about 0.02 to 17 kHz.

Eyesight of Killer Whales

Killer whales have acute, well developed vision - like dolphins. They can see very well both in and out of the water. Although, killer whales have very good eyesight, there are limitations depending on the amount of light. That is why killer whales use echolocation to help them find food in darkness.

A killer whale' s eyes are on each side of the head, located just behind and above the mouth, and in front of the white eyespot.  The ears, located just behind the eyes, are small inconspicuous openings, with no external flaps.

Glands at the inner corners of the eye sockets secrete an oily, jelly-like mucus that lubricates the eyes, washes away debris, and probably helps streamline the eyes as a killer whale swims.  The tear-like film may also protect the eyes from infectious organisms.

The eye and external ear openings of killer whales are well camouflaged and located near the white 'false eyespot'.  These false eyespots may protect a killer whale's eyes from prey they are attacking.  Prey animals may attempt to injure the eyes of a predator in order to escape, but the obvious false eyespots may draw attention away from the killer whales' real eyes.

In the often darkened waters of the ocean, eyesight may be of little help in locating prey.  Under these conditions, killer whales probably rely on sound production and reception to navigate and find prey in murky waters.