A collective noun for whales is a gam, a pod, a school, a herd, a shoal, a run, a troop, a float, a mob, or a plump. A school of whales is a group of 10 or more whales, while a pod is a group of less than 10 whales. The origin of the word “pod” for a group of whales is uncertain; it was first recorded in this sense in the 19th century, and no firm source language has been pinned down for it. The word “school” in this sense comes from the Middle Dutch “schole” (and the related Old English “scolu”), meaning a troop or multitude, and is unrelated to the educational “school” that traces back to the Greek “skholē” for leisure.
