Talk:False killer whale

Psuedorca
There are at least 2 False Killer Whales at Seaworld in Florida which are also referred to as "Psuedorca" (Correct as of May 2006)

Paul Walsh, Stockton, England

Diet (and naming)
From this article: "As killer its name implies, the False Killer Whale shares characteristics with the more widely known orca ("killer whale"). The two species look somewhat similar and, like the orca, the False Killer Whale attacks and kills other cetaceans."

From Orca: "The Orca is the only cetacean species to regularly prey on other cetaceans."

Obviously, at least one of these statements is misleading, if not totally incorrect. I've never even heard of the False Killer Whale before today, so I'm in no position to identify which article needs some clarification.

Also, as a side point, is there any other common name for this dolphin? With "orca" increasingly being preferred over "killer whale," it seems surprising that "false killer whale" would continue to be accepted as a meaningful name.

Dayv 02:01, 14 November 2005 (UTC)


 * Not really. Orcas are huge business and so have undergone a bit of political rebranding. False Killer Whales are pretty rare and not really known to the public at large and haven't.


 * The word "regularly" is probably the get-out here that might make both statements true. I'll have a look at my texts when I get home to be sure. It could be the that the (heavily and haphazardly edited) Orca article is just plain wrong. Thanks for the feedback! Pcb21| Pete 08:47, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

False Killer Whales prey on other cetaceans, but are kept in captivity with other dolphins, and even perform and mate with them? I understand that predation in captivity is unlikely since they are fed, but it seems like their co-captives would recognize them as a predator species and be somewhat less than comfortable around them.--70.156.126.4 (talk) 02:26, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree that the species is desperately in need of a new vernacular name, such as "Owen's dolphin" or "gray/grey dolphin" (I would have said "black dolphin", but that's already another name for the Chilean dolphin). I wonder how one goes about popularizing a new vernacular name. —Mahāgaja · talk 07:45, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

Human interaction (from main article)
Question &mdash; "100 False Killers were beached at Geographe Bay, Western Australia on 2 June 2005. The pod of 160 were moved back out to sea with only one death after the intervention of 1,500 volunteers coordinated by the Department of Conservation and Land Management." &mdash; Which is it? 100, or 160? No source is listed... ~ Ross (ElCharismo) 22:14, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

--chris_huh 17:54, 30 May 2006 (UTC) What i found is a number of different estimates varying from 80 to 140 that were actually stranded, the entire pod included members that were not stranded and may have been closer to 180.

Beaching
The use of the word "fortunately" to describe the whales which were saved prior to euthanasia does not seem entirely neutral. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.158.137.223 (talk) 23:09, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
 * If only there were some way that we could edit it... Rogerborg (talk) 00:28, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

False Killer Whales Human Interaction
So we know that recently Seaworld's last False Killer Whale passed away recently. In the section that currently says "Several public aquaria display false killer whales. For example, Sea World Orlando displayed false killer whales until their last one died in 2012.[7]" How about instead of includind a location that no longer has False Killer Whales we include some place like the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan as it still has False Killer Whales?

"Several public aquaria display false killer whales. For example, Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium's Okichan Theater in Japan." --192.195.66.3 (talk) 19:15, 5 June 2012 (UTC)
 * That's good as long as there is a reliable source. Rlendog (talk) 21:58, 5 June 2012 (UTC)

third largest...
There reads: third largest member of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae).

The killer whale is probably the largest, but what is the second largest? 85.217.23.194 (talk) 20:46, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

Self Contradictory
This sentence contradicts itself: "The false killer whale has not been hunted extensively, for example in the West Indies and Indonesia. In Japan, a large number are killed every year during the annual slaughter in Taiji." And as there is no citation it is hard to know which it is. In addition I looked at the Annual slaughter in Taiji and did not see anything on false killer whales. I will remove this sentence later if there are no objections. VViking Talk Edits 21:38, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

Population and distribution
Shouldn't "Lakshwadweep islands" be "Lakshadweep islands"? Dawright12 (talk) 18:47, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
 * It's a difference of a single letter. What do you think? SHFW70 (talk) 19:03, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Endangered status
I changed the back the endangered status in the infobox from EN→DD, since that's what's given in the IUCN website (Pseudorca page). I would guess that was misled by the fact that the Hawaii population of false killer whales was listed as endangered by the US Federal government in 2012. I will also update the corresponding Japanese page which lists it as "Least Concern", which is old data on the IUCN website.--Kiyoweap (talk) 10:33, 28 April 2014 (UTC)
 * I agree with you. The status for the article on the species should reflect the status of the species, not of individual populations. Rlendog (talk) 15:18, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

Habitat map
The habitat map in the article (File:Cetacea range map False Killer Whale.svg) is quite different from the one from IUCN. Is there any particular reason for that? Leyo 19:06, 15 June 2023 (UTC)


 * I wouldn't say they were very different. The article's map extends the range to the Black Sea and to the Baltic; the IUCN's doesn't, but its accompanying text says the species has been sighted in the Baltic (calling these sightings "extralimital", whatever that means) and lists it as "Native" to the Mediterranean and Black Seas. I note in passing that per Lyall Watson Whales of the World (Hutchinson 1981, p215), the first non-fossil observation of the species was in 1860(-ish) when 100 beached themselves in the Bay of Kiel in the Baltic. Oh, I now see the article also alludes to this.
 * The main difference is that the article's map doesn't join up the East and West coast ranges in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans through their mid-ocean areas, as the IUCN's does. This might reflect different assumptions, such as actual sightings versus assumed travel routes between known areas through areas where fewer observers have been present. Another factor might be recent range changes due to warming oceans – the dates and source data for both maps are not obvious.
 * Further reliable sources might be required to resolve this. You might enquire at WikiProject Cetaceans. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.140.169 (talk) 21:57, 14 August 2023 (UTC)