Crustaceans manage when facing groups of whales (8)

I believe the answer is:

copepods

'crustaceans' is the definition.
(copepod is a kind of crustacean)

'manage when facing groups of whales' is the wordplay.
'manage' becomes 'cope' (synonyms).
'when facing' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'groups of whales' becomes 'pods'.
'cope'+'pods'='COPEPODS'

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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