Killer whales groom each other–with pieces of kelp

Re:Killer whales groom each other–with pieces of kelp by robaato on Friday July 04, 2025 @08:07AM (#44463810)

Nice article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/30/orca-k... These supposedly serious cetaceans have been spotted massaging each other with kelp stalks. This is the sort of performative nonsense you’d expect from dolphins

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Re:Killer whales groom each other–with pieces of kelp by swores on Friday July 04, 2025 @09:44AM (#44464503)

Killer Whales, aka Orcas, actually are dolphins!

And they got their name as a mistranslation into English - if I remember correctly they were originally named in Spanish as "killers of whales" or "whale killers", because they do that

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Re:Killer whales groom each other–with pieces of kelp by ceph_ on Friday July 04, 2025 @03:34PM (#44467245)

All dolphins are whales. Not all whales are dolphins. It's a square / rectangle situation.

Orcas are indeed dolphins, and also whales.

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Re:Killer whales groom each other–with pieces of kelp by thaumasiotes on Friday July 04, 2025 @05:37PM (#44468054)

> if I remember correctly they were originally named in Spanish as "killers of whales" or "whale killers", because they do that

Wiktionary supports that etymology, and it is generally a high-quality source for etymology, but it's troubling that this one isn't cited.

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Re:Killer whales groom each other–with pieces of kelp by libraryofbabel on Friday July 04, 2025 @12:49PM (#44466028)

My absolute favorite Orca culture story (yes they have transmissible culture!) is the “salmon hat craze,” where the Orcas carry dead salmon around on their heads, apparently just for fun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_hat

When you’re the apex predator of the world’s oceans you can get away with all sorts of silly nonsense!

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