Appearance is not the only trait that the False Killer Whale shares with the whale species. Although it is a dolphin, the False Killer Whale using cooperative feeding technique similar to those used by the Orca and Humpback Whale species. The False Killer whale will encircle its prey, which is known as herding, then the pod of False Killer Whales will feed all at once.
The False Killer Whale has a long, slender body with a rounded head. The forehead is narrow and no beak is present. The dorsal fin is very predominant and tall. Located midway down the back and varying from dolphin to dolphin, the dorsal fin is used for identification purposes for the species. The body of the False Killer Whale is sleek. The coloring is black, but areas of gray can be found occasionally on the head or chest. One of the unique traits of the False Killer Whale is the possession of a hump half way down the leading edge of the flippers.
Adult False Killer Whales can reach lengths up to six meters, or twenty feet. This species of dolphin can weigh as much as 2.2 ton, (that's 2200 pounds)! The males are often times larger then the females both in length and weight, but female False Killer Whales have also tipped the scales at 1.9 ton. However, the False Killer Whale newborns weigh only a mere 600 to 800 pounds at birth and are approximately 1.1 to 1.9 meters long, quite small compared to a baby False Killer Whale's parents.
False Killer Whales are said to be found in "all the oceans of the world," including the Red and the Mediterranean Seas, although more thorough documentation has found that this species prefers mainly offshore subtropical and tropical waters. Recent beaching of False Killer Whales in the UK, Scotland, the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Caribbean Islands have allowed for researchers to exam and study these masters of illusion. Mass beaching is not uncommon, and one report details the fact that approximately 800 False Killer Whales beached themselves at once.
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