page_title: Cetology
hierarchical_section_title: Cetology
caption_attribution_description: A researcher fires a biopsy dart at an Antarctic orca.
context_page_description: Cetology or whalelore is the branch of marine mammal science that studies the approximately eighty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoise in the scientific order Cetacea. Cetologists, or those who practice cetology, seek to understand and explain cetacean evolution, distribution, morphology, behavior, community dynamics, and other topics.
context_section_description: Cetology (from Greek κῆτος, kētos, "whale"; and -λογία, -logia) or whalelore (also known as whaleology) is the branch of marine mammal science that studies the approximately eighty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoise in the scientific order Cetacea.  Cetologists, or those who practice cetology, seek to understand and explain cetacean evolution, distribution, morphology, behavior, community dynamics, and other topics.
caption: A researcher fires a biopsy dart at an orca. The dart will remove a small piece of the whale's skin and bounce harmlessly off the animal.
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