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Won't someone think of the yachters. (lemmy.world)

submitted 11 months ago by BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world to c/memes@lemmy.world

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[-] lunarul@lemmy.world 21 points 11 months ago

Fun fact: orcas are not whales. The name "killer whale" is a reversal of their previous name, "whale killers". They're just mean dolphins.

[-] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 20 points 11 months ago

They normally aren't mean. Orcas used to hunt whales with us. We would give them all the stuff we didn't want, and they'd herd whale pods to the ships.

[-] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 5 points 11 months ago

They're mean to seals.

[-] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Well they eat everything that they can get a hold of, as a species, except us. Individual pods have varied diets

[-] lunarul@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

I really meant badass, but they can definitely be mean. All intelligent animals have a mean side.

[-] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago

Dolphins are mean dolphins.

[-] burgersc12@mander.xyz 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Dolphins are whales source

[-] egrets@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

I've never seen a convincing source for this factoid. As best I can tell, "killer whale" was never "whale killer" in recorded written text.

[-] Si_sierra 1 points 11 months ago

"Orcas were given the name ‘killer whale’ by ancient sailors’ observations of groups of orcas hunting and preying on larger whale species. They called orcas ballena asesina, or ‘killer whale.’ Their Latin name, Orcinus orca, also reflects this observation of orcas feeding on large whales. Orcinus translates to ‘of the kingdom of the dead,’ and orca refers to a kind of whale."

Source: https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/facts-about-orcas/

So seems like this etymology makes more sense.