The Naming of Things
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The Naming of Resident Killer Whales
Chances are that if you love Killer Whales you know the name of at LEAST a couple of individuals. Whether it’s dear departed J2 “Granny”, rescued and rehabilitated A73 “Springer”, or famously grief-stricken mother J35 “Tahlequah” – the names of Resident Orcas can stick with us and often leave big fluke-prints on our hearts. But…
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The Naming of Things: Dall’s Porpoise
The Dall’s Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) is the most active of the porpoise species, though this isn’t really saying much. It can often be found bowriding or “rooster-tailing” near boats and they frequently mistake for baby killer whales. While sighting members of this species is often exciting, the origins of their scientific name are rather mundane. The…
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The Naming of Omura’s Whale
Not much is known about Omura’s Whale (Balaenoptera omurai). It was first described by three Japanese scientists, Shiro Wada, Masayuki Oishi, and Tadasu K. Yamada, in 2003 (read their whole article here) and is the second smallest baleen whale, after the Minke, thought to grow to between 9.6 and 11.5 m long (31.5 to 37.7…
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The Naming of Spotted Dolphins
There are two currently recognized species of Spotted Dolphin: The Pantropical Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuata) – found in temperate and topical waters around the world – and the slightly larger Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella frontalis) – found, as you may imagine, in the tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The geography of these species’ common names…
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The Naming of Things: Whales
I’ve a whale of a tale to tell you folks this month about the wonderful word “Whale.” The modern English word to describe the animals we all know and love so well hasn’t changed that much in thousands of years. It’s most recent variation is from the Old English hwæl “whale,” which is also where we get…