AUTHOR: Louise Tillin, BBC News Online

Conservationists working to save India's endangered blind river dolphins say there are encouraging signs that the population is starting to stabilize in some areas.

AUTHOR: Susan Milius

A nerve-racking effort to attach cameras to marine mammals has shown how four species dive the impossible dive.

KEYWORDS: orca fact sheet killer whale fact sheet odontocete toothed whale largest dolphin facts whale genus species

AUTHOR:

The orca, or killer whale, with its striking black and white coloring, is one of the best known of all the cetaceans. It has been extensively studied in the wild and is often the main attraction at many sea parks and aquaria.

An odontocete, or toothed whale, the orca is known for being a carnivorous, fast and skillful hunter, with a complex social structure and a cosmopolitan distribution (orcas are found in all the oceans of the world). Sometimes called “the wolf of the sea” orca can be a fierce hunter with well-organized hunting techniques, although there are no documented cases of killer whales attacking a human in the wild.