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Sad though it is, am I the only person thinking they could have been more careful? I mean, "killer" whale? Wonder how it happened...
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The name comes fom "killer of whales", since that is what they are known to do.
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I love how they'll refer to these animals as "orcas" until they kill someone, then it's back to "killer whales."
These cetaceans are predators. They have conical teeth, used for shredding flesh and hooking prey. Have you SEEN the way orcas kill sea lions? Brutally.
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Intelligent animals are almost always active predators, usually because it is required of them to be so (the only exceptions I can think of are parrots, corvids and baleen whales). As a result, species capable of high intelligence and socialibility (with humans or not) are also capable of some of the most horrific cruelties (not always with an intended meal at the end of it). But we still think it safe to leave our childen with other humans.
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It's a known problem with captive dolphins. I have been told by my marine biologist friends that male dolphins will attempt to have sex with anything in their tank; toys, food, male and female humans, even other male dolphins.
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We've noticed that in wild dolphins too. Well, not so much food and toys.