🐋 Beluga whale vs Orca 🐳
The orca is about one and a half times as long as the beluga whale. The orca weighs about 4 times as much as the beluga whale.
| Row | 🐋 Beluga whale | 🐳 Orca |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed We don't have a checked number for the beluga whale yet. | no checked number yet | 35 mph56 km/h1 |
| Weight The orca weighs about 4 times as much as the beluga whale. | 1.6 tons1.4 tonnes2 | 4 to 8 tons3.6 to 7.3 tonnes3 |
| Lives The beluga whale usually lives about twice as long as the orca. | 90 years90 years2 | 30 to 50 years30 to 50 years3 |
| Eats The beluga whale eats fish; the orca eats meat. | fish such as cod and salmon, plus shrimp and crabs | fish such as salmon, and seals, depending on the pod |
| Lives in They can live in the same kind of place. | the Arctic Ocean and cold seas nearby, off Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia | every ocean, from the icy poles to warm seas |
Which one? Beluga whale or orca
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the beluga whale yet, so there is no race.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed.
Compare two more
Getting the animals ready…
📤 Share this pair
The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/beluga-whale-vs-orca
Where these numbers come from
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.
- NOAA Fisheries, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Kenai Fjords National Park, checked 30 October 2026.