Friday, May 24, 2013

Rad Cetacean Facts

   Dolphins are sometimes used for finding mimes! Tracking those suckers down and-- No, wait. Mines. They're used for finding mines. That... is not nearly as cool.

   Dolphins are also thought to be able to perceive depth using just one eye, which is terrifying, they hear using their jaws, which is weird, and they echolocate with help from their melon, which is hilarious.

   Orcinus orca, roughly translated, means "death whale." So, you're not allowed to call them that. Kind of like how calling Inuit "Eskimos" would be in bad taste because it means "eaters of (raw) flesh" or calling Roma "Gypsies" because it means... well, someone from Egypt. I don't see anything wrong with any of those, since meat is delicious and Egypt is pretty cool. But, uh, I wouldn't know.

   "Killer whales" is hardly better. And they're actually technically just a very large, oddly colored dolphin anyway. So... You know what, screw it. I'm going the Ishmael route. They're all fish. Whales are fish, dolphins are fish, porpoises are fish, killer whales are fish. Another word for orca IS "blackfish," after all (apparently?)


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