I just found out an orca is a type of dolphin. (1 Viewer)

[StephenA]

I feel so stupid now. I was watching The Ultimate Guide to Dolphins to see them show freshwater dolphins and found out that orcas are the largest type of dolphins. And all these years I thought they were small toothed whales. I know dolphins are in the same family as whales, but I thought orcas were actually whales. It looks like beluga whales are dolphins too, which I say because they showed a bunch of different types of dolphins all together with one looking like a beluga, but I didn't finish watching the show to find out. I'll watch the whole show later today.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Um, that's nice, Stephen. Learn something every day.

 

[Denward]

What distinguishes a dolphin from a whale?

 

[MickeS]

The dolphins are cute, always smile and help people when they're drowning. Whales spray water through a hole in the back when they're not eating people.

/Mike

 

[Julie K]

Mike,
You forgot porpoises. They push people off life rafts and shove them out to sea.

(You know folks, all the answers to life's little questions can easily be found on this wonderful thing we're playing with. Just go to google.com or your favorite search engine and type in something like "dolphin whale characteristics" or "dolphin whale differences". You're bound to get all the information you could ever dream of.)

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

I just saw some orcas a couple of weeks ago while visiting the San Juan islands. To watch a couple of orcas swim by you is a truly astounding sight.

 

[Jay H]

I thought the dolphins were the ones who kicked out all the residents of Springfield into the harbor? Or were they porpoises? Porpoises with a purpose.

Jay

 

[Jack Briggs]

I think you're confusing them with the Miami Dolphins. Ever since Moreno left. ...

 

[Julie K]

There was this cetacean researcher a few years ago who discovered that he could extend the life of these animals indefinitely by giving them an injection of a certain compound. Unfortunately, this compound turned out to be present only in the blood of immature sea gulls. Well, it seemed a small price to pay. Unfortunately, one day after gathering up a supply of the birds and driving them back to his research facility, he ran over and killed an elderly lion that had escaped from a nearby zoo and was napping in the middle of the road.

He was, of course, arrested and sent to jail on the charge of transporting underage gulls across a staid lion for immortal porpoises.

 

[Cees Alons]

Julie,
That one should be in the pun-thread! (For archiving purposes).
Cees

 

[MickeS]

Now, that is THE worst joke I've read here since... well since Jack didn't want to hear any more oak-and-dagger stories.
/Mike

 

[Patrick Sun]

*groan*

 

[Jack Briggs]

Yet I went into LOL mode. Julie, awesome. You have given this thread some porpoise.

 

[Philip_G]

WTF?? so shamoo isn't a whale at all? he's a big damn dolphin? SEAWORLD LIED TO ME AND DAMAGED MY FRAGILE LITTLE MIND

 

[Justin_M]

D. Scott MacDonald wrote:

I just saw some orcas a couple of weeks ago while visiting the San Juan islands. To watch a couple of orcas swim by you is a truly astounding sight.

I studied Orcas after my sophomore year in college ('99) at the Lime Kiln State Park on San Juan Island. That was the best experience of my life. We camped on the beach and studied characteristics of the Orcas for my animal psychology class. Truly amazing animals. Really gets you upset when you see them locked up in a tank as compared to being in their natural habitat. Very sad.
OXonce

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

Justin, I was at Lime Kiln State Park when I saw the orcas. I also talked to a "whale" researcher (definately not a "dolphin" researcher) who was also from Wisconsin. After seeing them swim in the wild, I agree that it's very sad to think of them stuck in a tank at Sea World.

 

[Justin_M]

D. Scott,
Was his name Dr. Bob Otis? He was my psych professor when I went to Ripon College. The best teacher that I ever had. Check out this website, also:
http://www.whaleresearch.com/
Ken Balcomb's house is where we stayed for the three weeks. The web-cam on the site is right off Ken's front porch.
OXonce

 

[Keith Paynter]

So long, and thanks for all the fish...

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

Justin: Sorry, I didn't catch his name and the website doesn't show a picture of him. All that he said was that he was a professor from Wisconsin who was spending the summer at Lime Kiln Park to study the whales. He was a really nice guy though, and I asked him why it was orcas are such fierce predators to everybody but humans, and his response was that nobody really knows and by all accounts they should really hate us.