Animals Directory

Archive for the ‘Killer whales’ Category

It is the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family Delphinidae called. Tradicionalemnte are called, in the northern hemisphere, blackfish, a group that includes pilot whale or calderon, pygmy killer whale, false killer whale and calderon lower. Corresponds to the second most distribution mammal on earth and is found in oceans worldwide, from the Arctic cold to warm tropical seas. It is a very versatile animal, being a deadly predator that feeds on fish, turtles, birds, seals, sharks and even other juvenile or small cetaceans. It is for this reason that is at the top of the marine food chain, even attacking whales, especially gray and blue.

Poor whale’s name reflects the human’s reputationas a fearsome and magnificent marine mammal that dates back to the description of the species of Pliny the Elder. Today it is recognized that the orca is a dolphin rather than a whale and not a danger to humans. Apart from a boy who was attacked while swimming in a bay in Alaska and another who was bitten on the coast of California, there has been no report of attack humans in nature. However reports have been known captive orcas attacking their trainers at marine theme parks.

Designation:

The orca name was originally given to these animals by the ancient Romans possibly derived from the Greek word which, among other things, refers to a species of whale.

The term orc, ork or its variant, has been used historically to describe a large fish, whale or sea monster, currently being considered an obsolete equivalent term for whale.

The name killer whale is widely used in Spanish and English common. However, since the sixties, the name orca has steadily increased in popularity as the common name for identifying the species, using both names at present, often leading to confusion. The orca denomination is used in most European languages, mainly due to increased international investigation of this species that have converged on the use of the name.

Since a pack of orcas can kill a large whale, it is believed that during the eighteenth century Spanish sailors dubbed these creatures killer-whales or whale’s murderer. However, this denomination is inadequately translated into English as a killer whale. The term became so popular that Spanish used their retranslation to killer whale.

There are still many, particularly in the scientific community, who prefer the original name thinking it’s an appropriate description for a species that kills many animals, including other cetaceans. These supporters argue that the original name the name inherited not only limited to Spanish sailors. In fact the name of the genus Orcinus means of Hell and although the name killer whale is probably not etymologically related, the assonance might have given them, some people, the idea that means whale that brings death or demon from hell.

It is notable as the name of this species has a daunting similarity in many other languages. In the end is called miekkavalas which means whale sword, to the native Haida Haida Gwaii islands off the coast of British Columbia, the animal was known as Skane, murderer and the devil is called in Japanese kanji Shachi which combines radical fish and tiger.

An old name for the species is Grampus, which is rarely used and should not be confused with the genus Grampus Risso’s dolphin.