Orcas of Iceland

Orca swimming under the water. Photograph credit: Jérémy Gonçalves.

Welcome to the second blog in our orca series. This time we will focus more on our Icelandic orcas! 

The Icelandic killer whales belong to the ecotype ‘Type 1’ which is also present in Norway and Scotland. They’re one of the physically smaller orca ecotypes. The males reach lengths of up to almost 7m and the females up to almost 6m. The males weigh around 6-7 tons and the females around 3-4 tons.      

When is best to see Orcas in Iceland? 

The optimal time to see them in Iceland is between March and June. The two key hotspots for this species are around the Snæfellsnes peninsula on the west coast and around Vestmannæyjar in the south – these orcas are called the “60´s”. Here in Reykjavík, sitting within the Faxaflói Bay, they are our 5th most sighted species behind the humpback whale, minke whale, white beaked dolphin and harbor porpoise.  In Faxaflói, we see them at random times throughout the year, so it is all down to luck! In 2024, all of our orca sightings happened within the first quarter of the year. 

Male orca seen onboard an Elding tour on Christmas Day 2023. Photograph taken by Rob Hyman.

Behaviour 

Different pods can share a part of their vocal repertoire in which they are considered part of the same acoustic “clan”. This is the case with Icelandic, Norwegian and Scottish orcas. Given the herring stock was much bigger before the 1960’s they were in more contact with each other, therefore shared some of their acoustic calls. This also kept the genetic flow between these populations regular. This is due to males leaving their pod to mate with females from other pods. Food sources connect, that’s why Icelandic fish-eating orcas are close related with Greenlandic orcas, while Icelandic seal eating orcas keep in touch with Norwegian orcas. Diversity in feeding behaviors and food sources is key to the genetic health of the North Atlantic orcas.   

A very specific hunting technique, which is only practiced by the Type 1 killer whales is called “carousel feeding”. They herd the herring with their calls, also by forming small circles around them, showing off their white bellies, to scare the herring closer together, until they’re formed into a “bait ball”, which is just a huge ball of fish. Then they swim very close to the edge of the bait ball and hit the fish with their massive flukes. This stuns or kills the herring, so they can eat them one by one. 

In an upcoming blog, we’ll explore the different hunting techniques of orcas around the world. We’ll take a dive into how they catch their prey, featuring incredible videos of hunts! 

An orca feeding on herring, through carousel feeding. Photo credit: Jérémy Gonçalves  

 Killer whales are toothed whales and flexible eaters but are often specialised to feed on one prey species. For our Icelandic orcas this is most of the time the herring, but also mammals, like seals or harbor porpoises. The 60´s for example feed in the summer on the Icelandic summer-spawning herring. However, some of the orcas from the Snæfellsnes Peninsula migrate to Scotland, in particular to Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides. One pod of Icelandic orcas has even been spotted in Genoa, Italy! These migrating pods then feed upon seals and other mammals when they arrive at their destination. 4 Killer Whales seen in Iceland in April 2022 were then later seen in Norway in June 2022.   

It´s very interesting that our Icelandic killer whales near Vestmannæyjar have a unique very low-frequency sound, called “Type i-36” (which is a herding call). This hasn´t been recorded in any other population in the world, so far. This sound frequency is not in the optimal hearing range of the orcas, but in the optimal range of the herring they are feeding on. The idea behind it could be to scare the herring, so that they bunch close together, making it easier to feed on them. Also, the killer whales´ whistles extend to ultrasonic frequencies, but apparently only in Iceland, Norway and Shetland. Recent research has shown that minke whales can hear the ultrasonic sounds of the orcas and therefore try to avoid them, since they´re part of some populations’ diet. 

Icelandic orcas were recorded feeding on herring for the first time using the i-36 herding call. Video credit: Icelandic Orca Project.

2 orcas swimming in Faxaflói Bay. Photograph taken by Miquel Pons. 

Keiko! 

The most famous Orca in the world, Keiko (from the Hollywood movie “Free Willy”) was Icelandic! He was born in 1976/77 and captured at only 2 years old. After spending his life in different facilities he was finally released, due to public pressure, into the wild in 1998 in Iceland. Unfortunately, he was so used to humans that it didn’t go as hoped for. Eventually he ended up in Norway, where he then died on the 12th of December in 2003. He lived to 27 years old which is much younger than male orcas who live their full live in the wild. They can live up to 50-60 years, as we discussed in the previous blog. 

Interspecies Interactions 

Although Orcas are the apex predators, which are found in every one of the worlds´ oceans, there is one species they sometimes try to avoid. The reason behind it is still unclear, but they sometimes even flee at high speed (28% of the documented times) from the long-finned pilot whales. The pilot whales have an anti-predator behavior called “mobbing”, maybe attack is the best form of defense? So, the pilot whales will make a lot of noise when they approach killer whales.  

Despite orcas trying to avoid pilot whales there have been 3 documented times where they “kidnapped” a pilot whale calf (2021 in the west of Iceland, 2022 and 2023 near Vestmannæyjar). But not only that, there’s also a record of them kidnapping a white-beaked dolphin calf in the west of Iceland. It was swimming in between two female Orcas and an adult white-beaked dolphin was close by following them. The pods of orcas stealing the calves have always been different and so far, no one knows why they do it and how these interactions end. Fish eating orcas will sometimes kill other marine mammals but not for consumption or maybe there are in fact orcas that specialise on feeding on marine mammals within Iceland? Sometimes when Icelandic orcas migrate, they will consume marine mammals such as seals.  

(First picture) Orca swimming alongside a long-finned pilot whale calf with fetal folds. (Second picture) 2 orcas swimming on each side of a white beaked dolphin calf. Photo credit: Marie-Thérèse Mrusczok and Orca Guardians. 

Orca Photo Identification (ID) 

To ID orcas there are a few steps. We have a look at their dorsal fin to see if they have nicks/notches. Also, we have a look at the saddle patch, which is white/grey and located behind the dorsal fin – what shape does it have, are there marks/scars visible? Male orcas have huge, up to 2m high, dorsal fins, but when they´re not fully grown you can´t tell if it´s a male or female, since the dorsal fin looks the same as of a female or juvenile orca. For calves on the other hand there are different rules to ID them. Since they´re not fully grown, we can only use their eyepatches, which are located above their actual eyes. They don´t change their shape when growing up.   

What to look for to identify an Orca. Credit: Centre for Whale Research.

At Elding have an orca catalogue where we keep track of different individuals and species, we have a record of all the orcas we have seen since 2010! 

If you have been to Iceland and took some photographs of killer whales, you could even do your own photo ID! Orca Guardians have different catalogues online. These include the matrilineal lineage of orcas around Iceland, all orcas up to 2021 and finally those that migrate between Iceland and Scotland. You can compare your pictures against these and see if you have any matches.  

Kylie Veal