The mammal-eating transients and the fish-eating residents appear to have specialized diets. Transient killer whales occasionally harass and sometimes kill seabirds, but seldom consume the carcass. Less common prey are grey whales, minke whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, California sea lions, northern elephant seals, river otters and sea otters. Other important prey of transients include harbour porpoise, Dall's porpoise and Steller sea lions. In contrast, the most common prey of transient killer whales are harbour seals. Less important prey include lingcod, greenlings, sole, flounder, sculpins, herring, rockfish, sablefish and halibut.
Salmon appear to be the predominant prey of resident killer whales. About 200 offshore whales have been catalogued so far. They may be distant relatives of the resident killer whales. Little is known about the offshore killer whales, which are rarely seen in British Columbia. About 400 individuals range from southern California to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Transients behave unlike residents and appear to eat mainly mammals and only occasionally birds. Transient killer whales typically travel in small groups and were thought to be in transit. They number about 600 individuals between Washington and Alaska.
They feed on fish and were named residents because they are reliably seen each summer. Resident killer whales tend to travel in stable groups known as pods.
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