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Crazy Alphabet Challenge (with a twist): the letter E: "Épaulard"

source of the picture above: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37025092

Yes I just joined the crazy alphabet challenge, but with a twist as I will present to you French (Canadian variant) words starting with specific letters, notably this week the letter E.

In the picture above you see the Orca or killer whale (English). The Orca is also named Orca or Orque but also “ÉPAULARD” in the French language. The prononciation of this French word sounds like this “e p o l a r”. So, the “é” is pronounced just like hey but with no letter “h”, “pau” just like po and “lard” just like lard but without pronouncing the letter “d”.

“Épaulard” is a French word that probably came from “espaulart” and “espaart” meaning shoulder or “épaule” in old French. This French etymology was also probably associated with the word “espee” or “épée” meaning sword that was related with the dorsal fin of this great great toothed whale which belongs to the dolphin family.

In fact the “épaulard” is the largest of the dolphin family with the males ranging from 6-8 meters long (20-26 feet and around 6 tonnes) and the females from 5-7 meters (16-23 feet with 3-4 tonnes). The “épaulards” can be found just about anywhere in all oceans and most seas.

The “épaulards” are considered apex predators. This means that they have no natural predators that can hunt them. The “Épaulards” mostly hunt in packs (just like wolves). They prey on fish, mammals (like seals), birds, sea turtles and even sharks and rays. Just like sharks and other whales, the “épaulards” can easily jump out of the water to catch a prey in mid air or mid flight.

I hope you enjoyed your French lesson and presentation of this beautiful marine mammal…

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Written by HistoryGal

14 Comments

    • I also love these whales and any kind of whales whether it be the blue whale or the beluga etc… Thank you so much for your lovely comment/compliment and now we can correspond in French right?. Just joking….