Talk:Orca/Should the page be at Orca or Killer Whale

message: To me it seems strange to use Orca as the main reference for this article. Of course orca needs to be included, not only as a redirection page but also in the article. The traditional common name is however Killer whale although several people have been promoting the use of orca in place of the dominating common name. I guess it has something to do with an uncomfortable feeling many may have with the use of killer together with whale which has a very positive image in most urban societies in the western world. This may also be the reason why orca in many ears sounds more like a pet name than a common name of an animal. The use is also widespread in activist groups, whale museums ("Help name the orca babies"), etc. In this context however, I think it would be wise to use the traditional term killer whale, which also is known outside the groups just mentioned.
:I'm not sure how this brings anything to the debate we already had above. The article is at orca because that is what a vast majority of the english-speaking people interested in this area call it, as evidenced by the plurality of google hits. I've never seen this "don't call it killer because it is not so cuddly" argument before... but if you have a reference I will be very pleased to read it, and we should think about adding it the section on naming. Pcb21| Pete 21:16, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: More on naming

message: :Any additional comments:
I jumped down to discussion section to reply - agreed, orcas are whales. So are dolphins, yet they are usually not referred to as whales. The killer whale name was given to orca when not much was known about them. As in 'killer tiger', the implication is that they kill humans, which is unreported for wild orca. On the other hand, I just looked at the Right Whale article, and if they're stuck with that name, orca may as well be killer whales. I'll change my oppose vote to abstain. Bob98133 (talk) 17:14, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: OK, I didn't know that "killer" implies killing humans. I assumed that "killer" simply means that it is a predator (as opposed to some big whales). In my language, Orca is simply called "fat munchers" because of their apatite for seal and other fat animals, previous also called "pole whales" because of the characteristic dorsal fin. In any case I don't think it is biased (POV) to use the name "killer whale", it is simply the common name. Regards,  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mondeo (talk • contribs) 17:39, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't think the term implies that orcas kill humans.  I believe that the origin of the name is a reversal of an older name "whale killer". Rlendog (talk) 19:12, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I was going to mention that the origin was "whale killer", but see you beat me to it.  Prior to whaling, baleen whales, particularly whale tongues and other soft parts that could be torn off easily were a primary food source.  --Aranae (talk) 23:24, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

text: Bob98133: Currently, you contradict the article Whale, which states that the term does not include dolphins in English. --KnightMove (talk) 06:45, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Per the article Toothed whale, Killer Whales or Orcas are in fact toothed "whales". Rlendog (talk) 07:07, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, biological nomenclature does not always follow intuition and the logic of speech... a velvet ant is a wasp, while a wood wasp is not a wasp. Thus, it might well be that a dolphin is a toothed whale, but not whale. However, as the former article explicitly states dolphins to be whales, and the latter states they're not, there is currently a contradiction between those two articles to be fixed. --KnightMove (talk) 07:43, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

text: So do you think the species was named like this just for being a predator? --KnightMove (talk) 17:55, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't know, I am simply confused about POV claims - why is the name POV? As far as I know it is a clever hunter, more so perhaps than the sharks. In my language it also has a less than flattering name. Regards, Mondeo (talk) 18:14, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

text: "It is derived from the name Basque whalers gave the species: ballena asesina—“whale killer”—an appropriate moniker for a predator that hunts and eats whales." . As Rlendog and Aranae pointed out, it's nothing to do with it being a 'killer'. Even if this were the reason for its name, we should still follow naming conventions laid out by MSW3; your own examples show that even if the common name may not be entirely accurate, it is still used. Jack (talk) 18:10, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I guess opinions are formed about this, now it's a matter of interpretation. An additional point: Killer bees, killer ants or killer sharks all express a danger to humans. I don't think it's advisable to use a name capable of being misunderstood in this regard. --KnightMove (talk) 22:19, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: The point I'm trying to put across is: by consensus of WikiProject Mammals, Mammal Species of the World (MSW3) is the taxonomic reference for mammal common names, the only reason to deviate from this text is "for newly discovered species or taxonomic revisions with significant scientific consensus", the reason for this is to "minimize inconsistencies and conflicts" in articles. Jack (talk) 23:51, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: If one truly wanted to minimize conflict then the articles would located at the scientific name and any and all common names would be redirects or disambiguation pages.  The major thing to remember is the common vernacular names are NOT scientifically regulated and they boil down in most cases to the preferred region variation.  The Puget Sound region uses Orca as the preferred common name, how does MSW3 decide what common name to use? --Kevmin (talk) 00:11, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: It seems as though the book was originally started by the American Society of Mammalogists and published by Association of Systematics Collections, more recently it has received funding from the Smithsonian. It has experts in each order of mammals who decide on the common names. Jack (talk) 00:59, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

text: How is it determined that "Orca" is  the "preferred common name" in the Puget Sound region? Rlendog (talk) 01:57, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Using scientific names may work to minimize conflict for this article, but it would not necessarily work any better than common names in general.  It certainly would not work for Sperm Whale, to use another toothed whale as an example.  See the "catadon" section of the talk page if you want evidence. Rlendog (talk) 02:08, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

text: If you read the above conversation I've explained what MSW3 is. Cheers, Jack (talk) 17:42, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion

message: I think the fact that Seaworld uses "killer whale" [1] goes a long way towards establishing what the most commonly used name is.  --Born2cycle (talk) 01:19, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Seaworld usage

message: Just because some scientist named them 'killer whales' over 120 years ago, doesn't mean it's right. They are neither killers, nor whales. People should know the common name, but also the correct name. Don't continue this misinterpretation of these fine creatures.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stony7420 (talk • contribs) 12:55, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Go Orca!! 

message: They are called orcas that's what everybody calls them  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.148.68.123 (talk) 12:33, 13 November 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  No one calls them "killer whales" anymore