The killer whale or orca (Orcinus orca) is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member.

On 3 January 2017, the BBC reported that the oldest known orca whale may have died, at the estimated age of over 100.

The killer whale or orca (Orcinus orca) is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. Toothed whales (Odontoceti) are a suborder of cetacean.

10 things you might not now about Odonotoceti - in numbers...

5 families make up the Odonotoceti sub order: beaked whales, oceanic dolphins, porpoises, river dolphins and sperm whales

30 miles per hour is how fast a Dall’s porpoise can swim

40 kinds of oceanic dolphin exist; orcas are the largest

60 vaquita porpoise remain on the planet; they are considered critically endangered

85 minutes is how long a beaked whale can dive for 

1,580 kilograms is average weight of a narwhale

1938 is the year the first commercial dolphinarium opened at Marine Studio, Florida

2006 is the year the that world’s tallest man saved two dolphins

2,992 metres is the record set by the cuviers beaked whale for deepest dive of any odontoceti 

15,000 kilograms is the average weight of a sperm whale

This article is part of our "Did You Know?" series.

^Sources:

^{WWF, BBC NEWS, WDC, IUCN SSC [archived], Oceanus, Narwhal Tusks, BBC}

Image: Robert Pittman [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons