When were killer whales first discovered?

In this way, who discovered killer whales?

Type D orcas were only first recorded when a group of more than a dozen stranded in New Zealand in 1955. More than half a century later, in 2005, Pitman saw photographs collected by Paul Tixier, a French scientist doing research off a remote archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean known as the Crozet Islands.

Moreover, how did the killer whale get its name?

Killer whales are also known as orcas, a name that comes from their scientific name: Orcinus orca. Long ago, sailors referred to these massive creatures as "whale killers." Eventually that nickname changed to killer whale. In Spanish, they're referred to as ballena asesina, which means "assassin whale."

For the most part killer whale aren't considered dangerous marine mammals, however they have been known to attack humans on rare occasions which we'll explain later in the article. Despite being carnivorous animals killer whales don't eat people or generally try to attack them.