The orca is an apex predator, meaning it's at the top of its food chain and has no immediate threat as one of the largest and most powerful aquatic animals. However, the species is still threatened by environmental concerns, such as fishing equipment discarded or lost at sea like nets that pose entanglement dangers, chemicals that don't break down in nature and become stored in the fatty tissue of the orcas when they digest contaminated food, and shock waves from underwater explosives or military sonar that can cause orca blood vessels to burst and hemorrhage.