Species guide
Pygmy killer whale
Feresa attenuata
At a glance
Conservation, taxonomy and Madeira records reviewed . Review sources.
- Global IUCN conservation status
- Least Concern — assessment published .
Global extinction risk is separate from sighting frequency in Madeira.
- Identification
- Robust, dark-coloured body with narrow blackish cape and white belly patch
- Relatively tall and falcate dorsal fin, sometimes pointed.
- Size
- Maximum length: 2.6 m
- Recorded occurrence in Madeira
- Reported on local trips, including August 2026.
- Madeira records and season
- No dependable seasonal window established by the cited records.
Identification and size summarize profile notes updated . Local records are past observations, not a prediction of sightings.
Read the identification notes ↓- Taxonomic authority
- Gray, 1874
- Family
- Delphinidae
- Cetacean group
- Odontoceti
Sightings in Madeira
The May 2009 pygmy killer whale sighting is documented in the 2012 checklist. Later trip reports supersede the old statement that Madeira has only one record. Historical evidence.
Our August 2026 trip report lists this species. This is an operator observation, not a population estimate.
No dependable seasonal window established by the cited records. The months in individual reports should not be treated as the limits of a season.
ID characteristics
Robust, dark-coloured body with narrow blackish cape and white belly patch
Relatively tall and falcate dorsal fin, sometimes pointed.
Round melon-shaped head, no beak, with white lips
Surface behaviour
Normally a slow swimmer.
Tends to avoid boats though occasionally bow-rides
Small groups sometimes roll synchronously, shoulder-to-shoulder
Distribution
Worldwide between parallels 40º North and 35º South
Tropical and subtropical waters of all major oceans
Social
In groups between 15 to 25 whales
Diet
Squid, fish and small seals
Biometrics
Max length: 2.6 m
Adult weight: 110 to 17 kg
Blow
Low round bush shaped not often seen
Common names in other languages
- Portuguese: Orca-pigmeia, Orca anã
- German: Zwerggrindwal
- French: Orque pygmée, Orque naine
- Spanish: Orca pigmea
- Italian: Feresa
- Dutch: Dwerggriend
- Polish: Orka najmniejsza
- Swedish: Dvärgspäckhuggare
- Danish: Dværgspækhugger
Names vary by language and region. This list is not exhaustive. Multilingual name records.
Review sources
Conservation, taxonomy, local occurrence and seasonality checked on . The assessment publication year is separate from this editorial review date. Identification, size, other biology notes and multilingual aliases are outside this review unless a specific source is cited alongside them.
- IUCN Red List: Feresa attenuata — global species assessment, published 2018.
- Society for Marine Mammalogy: species and subspecies list (April 2026) — Scientific names, authorities, families and English names. Mysticeti and Odontoceti are treated as unranked groups.
- IUCN SSC Cetacean Specialist Group: Red List status of cetaceans — Global species categories cross-checked against the specialist group's overview, updated October 2025. Regional and subpopulation assessments are separate.
- IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group: November 2018 assessments — Global assessment publication years and category changes. A category change need not indicate a recent population change.
- Freitas et al. (2012): New records of cetacean species for Madeira Archipelago with an updated checklist — Table 1 and species accounts distinguish sightings, catches and strandings. Record totals and last-record dates describe evidence available through December 2012.
The linked trip reports document operator observations. They do not independently confirm every identification or measure population size, abundance or the probability of a sighting.