🐬 Bottlenose dolphin vs Orca 🐳
The orca is about 3 times as long as the bottlenose dolphin. The orca weighs about 15 times as much as the bottlenose dolphin.
| Row | 🐬 Bottlenose dolphin | 🐳 Orca |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed We don't have a checked number for the bottlenose dolphin yet. | no checked number yet | 35 mph56 km/h1 |
| Weight The orca weighs about 15 times as much as the bottlenose dolphin. | 300 to 1,400 lb136 to 635 kg2 | 4 to 8 tons3.6 to 7.3 tonnes3 |
| Lives The bottlenose dolphin lives a bit longer than the orca. | 40 to 60 years40 to 60 years2 | 30 to 50 years30 to 50 years3 |
| Eats The bottlenose dolphin eats fish; the orca eats meat. | fish, squid and shrimp | fish such as salmon, and seals, depending on the pod |
| Lives in They can live in the same kind of place. | warm and mild seas all over the world, near the shore and far out | every ocean, from the icy poles to warm seas |
Which one? Bottlenose dolphin or orca
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the bottlenose dolphin 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/bottlenose-dolphin-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.