Jun 17, 2026 · 19 min · 11 segments
Hosts Lora, Heather, and Rebecca dive deep into the world of orca, also known as killer whales. Lora explains that orca are technically the largest members of the dolphin family, and breaks down the…
So today I have for you a little bit and some information on orca, or better known as killer whales, which are technically a dolphin, not a whale.
The name killer whale comes from sailors who saw them killing whales and called them killer whales or also assassin whales.
And over time, the words got swapped.
They are the largest dolphin family, and among these species, there are several ecotypes.
Side note, porpoises are not dolphins.
Although they look like dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals and belugas.
And I bring this up because I always thought porpoise was the scientific name for the dolphin species.
Silly me.
Also, side note number two, there are two types of porpoises that are black and white colored with similar markings to killer whales.
They are the spectacled porpoise and the doll's porpoise.
I didn't know there were other species out there with this unique black and white coloring, but the two porpoises are significantly smaller than orca, so you wouldn't get them confused.
Anyways, I just thought those were interesting little side notes that I wanted to kind of bring up.
And they differ by their genetics, how they communicate, and how they eat and hunt.
There are three ecotypes of orca in the Pacific, which are resonant, transient, and offshore.
Then there are four in the Antarctic that are type A, B, C, and D.
These ecotypes do not interbreed and are classified by their habitat, like where they live and hunt.
So they're classifying tiers with ecotypes at the top, then clans, then lastly pods.
So ecotypes are classified by their habitat, like I mentioned above.
Then clans are classified by their language or dialect.
And a pod is their immediate tight-knit family, which is led by the matriarch.
So today I have for you a little bit and some information on orca, or better known as killer whales, which are technically a dolphin, not a whale.
The name killer whale comes from sailors who saw them killing whales and called them killer whales or also assassin whales.
And over time, the words got swapped.
They are the largest dolphin family, and among these species, there are several ecotypes.
Side note, porpoises are not dolphins.
Although they look like dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals and belugas.
And I bring this up because I always thought porpoise was the scientific name for the dolphin species.
Silly me.
Also, side note number two, there are two types of porpoises that are black and white colored with similar markings to killer whales.
They are the spectacled porpoise and the doll's porpoise.
I didn't know there were other species out there with this unique black and white coloring, but the two porpoises are significantly smaller than orca, so you wouldn't get them confused.
Anyways, I just thought those were interesting little side notes that I wanted to kind of bring up.
And they differ by their genetics, how they communicate, and how they eat and hunt.
There are three ecotypes of orca in the Pacific, which are resonant, transient, and offshore.
Then there are four in the Antarctic that are type A, B, C, and D.
These ecotypes do not interbreed and are classified by their habitat, like where they live and hunt.
So they're classifying tiers with ecotypes at the top, then clans, then lastly pods.
So ecotypes are classified by their habitat, like I mentioned above.
Then clans are classified by their language or dialect.
And a pod is their immediate tight-knit family, which is led by the matriarch.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
