Not really whales, orcas are the largest of the dolphin family; an adult male like this can be 30-feet long, with a 6-foot dorsal fin.
Their nickname "Killer whale" is the reason for the confusion. They have that nickname because they sometimes attack and kill the big whales (although mostly it's the babies they kill).
This big guy left his family pod and swam over to take a look at us. Satisfied, he returned to his mama and the rest of his immediate family (in this case his pod was about a dozen animals).
