Whale watching - whale and dolphin encounters around Levuka, Fiji Islands

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False killer whale in the Fiji Islands
(Pseudorca crassidens)

False killer whales are the third-largest member of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae).
The live in temperate and tropical waters throughout the the world.
They likely got their name as the false killer whale attacks and kills other whales and dolphins. But their appearance and behaviour differs from the killer whales and they do not belong to the same genus..

The false killer whale is a very social animal and lives in strong family bonds in very small groups of 10 to 20 animals outside the reefs as a deep water species.

False killer whales are very playful around boats. They are very curios and may approach a drifting boat or a group of snorkellers even offering fish.

On one occasion during an encounter north of Ovalau's Na Lobaloba reef, the whales where playing with a Mahimahi they had caught and repeatedly dropped it in front of me. .

Note the bite of a cooky cutter shark on the False killer whales back. A typical injury on a deep water living whale or dolphin.
Cooky cutters are the smallest shark and spend daytime in deep water beyond the light zone. In the night they come to the surface an bite sleeping whales.