Cows may give birth as often as every three years, but may wait as long as eight years. Following a 16 to 17 month gesation, an eight-foot calf is born, often helped to the surface by a female pod-mate.
For the first six months, a calf stays close to its mother. It nurses several times an hour, around the clock, until weaned at the age of one year.
Orca bulls are ready to mate at 10 to 13 years of age. Cows are ready between 9 and 10 and give birth to their first calf between the ages of 11 and 17.
Orcas live between 25 and 40 years, maybe longer. Only four percent of adult pod members daily each year, but nearly half of all calves die before reaching one year of age.
