The catalog

Every predator profile

33 ocean hunters, from reef ambushers to deep-sea giants. Filter by group, ocean, habitat, prey or conservation status, then open any profile for the full account.

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Toothed Whales & Dolphins Common bottlenose dolphin leaping clear of the water, gray above and pale below, with a short thick beak, creased jawline and tall curved dorsal fin.

Common Bottlenose Dolphin

Tursiops truncatus

A widespread coastal and offshore dolphin that identifies itself with a signature whistle and passes local hunting traditions between generations.

Length 6.6–13 ft Least Concern
Toothed Whales & Dolphins False killer whale swimming near the surface, slender and uniformly dark gray with a rounded beakless head, tall curved dorsal fin and bent narrow flippers.

False Killer Whale

Pseudorca crassidens

A large tropical dolphin first described from a fossil skull, known for sharing food with unrelated adults and traveling in groups spread across miles.

Length 12–20 ft Near Threatened
Toothed Whales & Dolphins Adult orca surfacing in cold coastal water, showing its glossy black back, tall triangular dorsal fin, white oval eye patch and gray saddle.

Orca

Orcinus orca

The most widely distributed wild mammal after humans, living in matrilineal groups that pass down dialects, diets and hunting techniques.

Length 18–30 ft Data Deficient
Toothed Whales & Dolphins Short-finned pilot whale at the surface, dark charcoal body with a bulbous rounded forehead, thick tail stock and a low broad-based dorsal fin set well forward.

Short-finned Pilot Whale

Globicephala macrorhynchus

A deep-diving squid hunter whose members stay in their mother's group for life and whose females live for decades after their last calf.

Length 11–24 ft Least Concern
Toothed Whales & Dolphins Sperm whale at the surface showing its enormous square gray head, wrinkled skin, single blowhole set forward on the left, and low dorsal hump.

Sperm Whale

Physeter macrocephalus

The largest toothed predator on Earth, carrying the biggest brain and the loudest voice of any animal inside a nose that fills a third of its body.

Length 28–52 ft Vulnerable