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| False Killer Whale Lower Risk | ||||||||||||||
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| Pseudorca crassidens ( Owen , 1846) | ||||||||||||||
The False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is a cetacean and one of the larger members of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae). It lives in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world. As 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.
The False Killer Whale has not been extensively studied in the wild by scientists - much of the data about the whale has been derived by examining stranded animals.
The species is the only member of the Pseudorca genus.
This dolphin has a slender body with a falcate dorsal fin that may be more than a foot high. One of the species' distinguishing characteristics is a bend and bulge (usually called the "elbow") half-way along each of the flippers. The tips of the tail fin are pointed and the middle of the tail has a distinct notch. The head is slender with a rounded beak. The False Killer is uniformly coloured a dark grey to black. The scientific specific name crassidens comes from the Latin for 'dense-toothed'.
The False Killer Whale is a social animal - it lives in groups of 10-50 and exceptionally in groups as large as 300. It is a fast and very active swimmer. It may breach or jump clear of the water and will often land on its side with a big splash. On other occasions the dive may be very graceful - living very little wake at all. It will readily approach boats and bow- and wake-ride. It may also emerge from the water head held high upwards and with the mouth open - revealing some of its 48 teeth.
False Killer Whales have been observed attacking smaller dolphins and whales in the tuna feeding grounds of the tropical eastern Pacific. It is not known whether this is typical behaviour. Researchers have also observed the False Killer attacking and biting larger whales, such as the Sperm Whale. Its food varies from region to region as does the Killer Whale's - different populations specialise on various fish and cephalopods. Co-operation between individuals has been observed when feeding - a pod will form a straight line and comb a particular area of sea, presumably seeking food.
The dolphin grows to about 6m long, may weigh 1,500kg and lives for about 60 years.
Although not often seen at sea, the False Killer Whale appears to have a widespread, if rare, distribution in temperate and tropical oceanic waters. They have been sighted in fairly shallow waters such as the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea as well as the Atlantic Ocean (from Scotland to ArgentinaArgentina is a Spanish-speaking country in southern South America, situated between the Andes in the west and the southern Atlantic Ocean in the east. It is bordered by Paraguay and Bolivia in the north, Brazil and Uruguay in the northeast and Chile in th), the Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third-largest body of water in the world, covering about 20% of the Earth's water surface. It is bounded on the north by southern Asia (the Indian Sub-continent); on the west by the Arabian Peninsula and Africa; on the east by the (in coastal regions) and the Pacific OceanFor other meanings of pacific see pacific (disambiguation). The Pacific Ocean (from the Spanish Pacifico meaning peaceful is the world's largest body of water. It encompasses a third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 179. 7 million km² (69. 4 mill (from the Sea of JapanThe Sea of Japan (in South Korea called East Sea, in China called Japan Sea) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bound by the Japanese islands of Hokkaido, Honshu and Kyushu and Sakhalin island to the east, and the Korean peninsula and Russia to New ZealandFor alternative meanings, see New Zealand (disambiguation). New Zealand is a country formed of two major islands and a number of smaller islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A common Mori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa popularly translated as Land and the tropical area of the eastern side).
The total population is unknown. The eastern Pacific was estimated to have in excess of 40,000 individuals and is probably the home of the largest grouping.