Rare 'False Killer Whales' Spotted at a Hurghada Dive Site — They Are Dolphins, and Not Dangerous to People
The Red Sea conservation group HEPCA has recorded a pod of Pseudorca crassidens at a dive site off Hurghada, a species rarely seen in these waters. Despite the name, specialists say it is a dolphin and no usual threat to humans.
13 October 2026
A pod of rare dolphins known as false killer whales has been recorded at a dive site off the coast of Hurghada by the Red Sea environmental conservation association HEPCA, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The name is misleading. The animal is classified scientifically among the oceanic dolphins under the name Pseudorca crassidens, and marine specialists quoted by the paper said it belongs to the dolphin family despite sharing some anatomical features with the killer whale — which is where the name comes from. Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the name does not mean the species represents a usual threat to people.
The paper described the animal as having:
- a streamlined, dark-coloured body
- a head that is not sharply prominent
- distinctively shaped pectoral fins
- the ability to swim long distances
- communication through sound
Specialists in marine science told the paper the species draws scientific interest for its anatomy and its social behaviour, and that seeing it in the Red Sea counts as a notable event because it is recorded far less often than the dolphin species common in the region.
The sighting adds another large marine mammal to the list of animals that bring divers, researchers and visitors of many nationalities to the Red Sea, whose coral reefs, fish and larger marine life draw thousands of divers a year. It comes days after this site reported a humpback whale off Hurghada — its first reported Red Sea sighting since 2016.
Al-Masry Al-Youm did not say which dive site the pod was seen at, on what date, or how many animals were in it. For divers and snorkellers, in other words, this remains luck rather than something an excursion can promise.