Question 1

True or false: A group of false killer whales is called a pod, and they are highly social, often traveling in groups of 10 to 50.

Accepted Answer

True. They are extremely social and sometimes form superpods of over 100 individuals, especially during feeding or migration.

Question 2

True or false: False killer whales are found only in tropical waters near the equator.

Accepted Answer

False. They range widely in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, including cooler waters off New Zealand and Japan.

Question 3

True or false: False killer whales are known to steal fish from longline fishing gear, a behavior called depredation.

Accepted Answer

True. They are notorious for taking tuna and other fish off hooks, causing significant economic loss for fishermen in Hawaii and elsewhere.

Question 4

True or false: False killer whales are actually a species of dolphin, not a whale.

Accepted Answer

True. Despite their name, they belong to the oceanic dolphin family Delphinidae, making them closer to bottlenose dolphins than to true whales.

Question 5

True or false: False killer whales can dive deeper than 2,000 meters in search of prey.

Accepted Answer

False. Their maximum recorded dive depth is around 1,000 meters; 2,000 meters is more typical of true beaked whales or sperm whales.

Question 6

True or false: False killer whales can hold their breath for over an hour while hunting deep-sea squid.

Accepted Answer

False. Their typical dives last only 5 to 15 minutes. An hour-long breath hold is more like that of a Cuvier's beaked whale.

Question 7

True or false: False killer whales have been known to form long-term social bonds with other species, like bottlenose dolphins.

Accepted Answer

True. In the wild and captivity, they often associate and even interbreed with bottlenose dolphins, producing hybrid offspring called 'wholphins'.

Question 8

True or false: False killer whales have a distinct white patch on their belly that glows at night.

Accepted Answer

False. They are mostly dark gray or black with a lighter throat, but they have no bioluminescent patches. That's a myth.

False Killer Whale Trivia Questions