Is there really such a thing as a “Killer Whale”? I realize that a Sea World trainer was recently killed by a whale, however that was a captive whale and the situation was unique. What I am talking about is a human hunting whale that has trolled the seas in search of human “sacrifices”.
How did the term Killer get associated with whales? Do they turn on humans when around them in the wild or are they called that because they are so big they look terrifying?
I think it’s because they go about killing and eating seals and such.
There are no documented cases of Orcas killing humans.
They properly belong to the dolphin group, although it should be noted that the terms “whale” and “dolphin” don’t have scientific meanings.
There are several documented cases of Orcas killing humans, but they have all been in captivity. There are no documented cases of **wild **orcas killing humans.
Good catch. That is what I meant, but was sloppy.
That’s kinda what the early citations from the OED imply, not that it has anything to do with killing humans.
From here:
That’s because the orcas are sneaky in the wild and they only kill homeless people that no one will ever miss 
What I like are the “false killer whales.” I mean imagine being given a tough name like “killer whale” and then having “false” tacked on to it. If I were a false killer whale, I’d want a new name
Well, Moby Dick was a white whale. Orcas are white whales. Maybe this is the social effect of whale racism. I’ll bet if these white whales were given the same opportunities as black, blue and gray whales, these problems wouldn’t occur. I dream of a day where the color of a whale’s character…
Um, not really. Moby Dick was, I presume, an albino sperm whale, and so white all over, quite unlike an orca. Perhaps you are thinking of beluga whales.
Well I was going to call you a racist, but this has grown boring quickly. Beluga whales produce fabulous caviar though.
