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Unrelated but as an ESL, I always felt uncomfortable with the name "killer whales". Not only "whales" is inappropriate according to their scientific classifica

Unrelated but as an ESL, I always felt uncomfortable with the name "killer whales". Not only "whales" is inappropriate according to their scientific classification, but also "killer" seems prejudicial since it inspire unwarranted fear.

boffinAudio 1y ago
Its appropriate, inasmuch as they are an apex predator, and spend a majority of their lives hunting for food - as opposed to many other whales which filter-feed as a harvesting mechanism ..
0x737368 1y ago
The reason they're called killer whales is because sailors saw them kill whales, so they were called whale killers and then there was a switch of the two terms.
raincole 1y ago
Especially when the alternative is so easy to spell and pronounce...
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
amelius 1y ago
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/06/orca-killer-whale-attacking-boats/674438/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/06/orca-kil... > Orcas kill for sport. They push, drag, and spin around live prey, including sea turtles, seabirds, and sea lions. Some go so far as to risk beaching themselves in order to snag a baby seal—not to consume, but simply to torture it to death. We might as well call them the assholes of the sea.
- _Algernon_ 1y ago
  Cats of the sea. Is them attacking luxury yachts the equivalent of my cat knocking down glasses of water?
  - bodhiandphysics 1y ago
    more like wolves of the sea, since they hunt in packs and often attack prey larger than them.
    - astura 1y ago
      Wolves hunt to eat. Housecats hunt to eat but also for sport and fun and will very often not even consume their prey, as they are well fed by their owners. That's where the "cats of the sea" comment came from. Wolves are very risk-averse, and only hunt when they need to eat. >Some go so far as to risk beaching themselves in order to snag a baby seal—not to consume, but simply to torture it to death. This is very much housecat behavior.
      - HelloMcFly 1y ago
        Given how intelligent we believe them to be, it seems likely to me that mental stimulation (including perhaps "recreation") when not acquiring food is quite meaningful to them.
- santiagolarrain 1y ago
  Some say they do it to teach their young how to hunt and stuff. That is educational. Might be true, since is a very social animal that live and hunt in packs of 3 generations.
  - mjanx123 1y ago
    Play is education and skill improval in general
- bmitc 1y ago
  As if I needed a reason to not read The Atlantic. What in the world is that article even about given the title and subtitle? It's behind a paywall. I can't imagine that the author has zero marine mammal experience, which seems to be a common theme amongst The Atlantic authors (knowing little about that which they write about). That paragraph you quoted is pretty hyperbolic. Many orcas hunt live and dangerous animals for food. Their prey can seriously injure and even kill them. Because orcas are tight family units with several generations of females and males in the same pod who never leave the pod and because of their intelligence, orcas engage in teaching the younger orcas and each other. So this can very easily look like tortue when it's in fact how orcas train each other to work together. They will also share food readily between each other, so this is why it will also appear to be toying with food. Yes, there is no doubt that orcas will also legimitaely play with food, but even then, it's a human judgement on a wild animal that can't go pick out meat in a box that comes from an animal raised and slaughtered in a cage.
adrian_b 1y ago
There is the alternative to call them orcas, which I prefer and which is also a much older name for them, being already used by Pliny the Elder, two millennia ago. It would have been simpler if the word "whale" would have been applied only to baleen whales, but unfortunately in the Old English tradition the word "whale" was used for any big marine animal, e.g. not only for sperm whales, but even for walruses.
kingkawn 1y ago
Other languages cannot be subjected to logic.
astura 1y ago
> "killer" seems prejudicial since it inspire unwarranted fear. They are apex predators. I don't think it's prejudicial to call an apex predators "killer." It's accurate. Do you still think it's "prejudicial" after seeing how they actually behave? - https://youtube.com/watch?v=35yly16M8p4 https://youtube.com/watch?v=35yly16M8p4 Beyond that, it's not inaccurate to call them whales. They belong to the same family as dolphins, which are toothed whales.
liveoneggs 1y ago
Murder Dolphins!
bigbacaloa 1y ago
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boffinAudio 1y ago

Its appropriate, inasmuch as they are an apex predator, and spend a majority of their lives hunting for food - as opposed to many other whales which filter-feed as a harvesting mechanism ..

0x737368 1y ago

The reason they're called killer whales is because sailors saw them kill whales, so they were called whale killers and then there was a switch of the two terms.

raincole 1y ago

Especially when the alternative is so easy to spell and pronounce...

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

amelius 1y ago

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/06/orca-killer-whale-attacking-boats/674438/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/06/orca-kil... > Orcas kill for sport. They push, drag, and spin around live prey, including sea turtles, seabirds, and sea lions. Some go so far as to risk beaching themselves in order to snag a baby seal—not to consume, but simply to torture it to death. We might as well call them the assholes of the sea.

_Algernon_ 1y ago
Cats of the sea. Is them attacking luxury yachts the equivalent of my cat knocking down glasses of water?
- bodhiandphysics 1y ago
  more like wolves of the sea, since they hunt in packs and often attack prey larger than them.
  - astura 1y ago
    Wolves hunt to eat. Housecats hunt to eat but also for sport and fun and will very often not even consume their prey, as they are well fed by their owners. That's where the "cats of the sea" comment came from. Wolves are very risk-averse, and only hunt when they need to eat. >Some go so far as to risk beaching themselves in order to snag a baby seal—not to consume, but simply to torture it to death. This is very much housecat behavior.
    - HelloMcFly 1y ago
      Given how intelligent we believe them to be, it seems likely to me that mental stimulation (including perhaps "recreation") when not acquiring food is quite meaningful to them.
santiagolarrain 1y ago
Some say they do it to teach their young how to hunt and stuff. That is educational. Might be true, since is a very social animal that live and hunt in packs of 3 generations.
- mjanx123 1y ago
  Play is education and skill improval in general
bmitc 1y ago
As if I needed a reason to not read The Atlantic. What in the world is that article even about given the title and subtitle? It's behind a paywall. I can't imagine that the author has zero marine mammal experience, which seems to be a common theme amongst The Atlantic authors (knowing little about that which they write about). That paragraph you quoted is pretty hyperbolic. Many orcas hunt live and dangerous animals for food. Their prey can seriously injure and even kill them. Because orcas are tight family units with several generations of females and males in the same pod who never leave the pod and because of their intelligence, orcas engage in teaching the younger orcas and each other. So this can very easily look like tortue when it's in fact how orcas train each other to work together. They will also share food readily between each other, so this is why it will also appear to be toying with food. Yes, there is no doubt that orcas will also legimitaely play with food, but even then, it's a human judgement on a wild animal that can't go pick out meat in a box that comes from an animal raised and slaughtered in a cage.

adrian_b 1y ago

There is the alternative to call them orcas, which I prefer and which is also a much older name for them, being already used by Pliny the Elder, two millennia ago. It would have been simpler if the word "whale" would have been applied only to baleen whales, but unfortunately in the Old English tradition the word "whale" was used for any big marine animal, e.g. not only for sperm whales, but even for walruses.

kingkawn 1y ago

Other languages cannot be subjected to logic.

astura 1y ago

> "killer" seems prejudicial since it inspire unwarranted fear. They are apex predators. I don't think it's prejudicial to call an apex predators "killer." It's accurate. Do you still think it's "prejudicial" after seeing how they actually behave? - https://youtube.com/watch?v=35yly16M8p4 https://youtube.com/watch?v=35yly16M8p4 Beyond that, it's not inaccurate to call them whales. They belong to the same family as dolphins, which are toothed whales.

liveoneggs 1y ago

Murder Dolphins!

bigbacaloa 1y ago

[dead]