December 5, 2024
2 minutes read
For Orcas, Dead Salmon Hats Are Back in Fashion After 37 Years
Orcas off the coast of Washington state are balancing dead fish on their heads like they did in the 1980s, but researchers still aren’t sure why they do it.
killer whale(orsinus orca) or killer whales, San Juan Island. Washington state, USA.
imageBROKER.com GmbH & Co. KG/Alamy stock photos
Northwestern Pacific killer whales are starting to wear salmon caps again, researchers say, reigniting a bizarre trend first described in the 1980s.
It was discovered by scientists and whale watchers last month. killer whale (orsinus orca) South Puget Sound and off Point No Point, Washington. Swimming with a dead fish on your head.
This is the first time they’ve donned the bizarre hat since a fashionable female West Coast killer whale began acting out for no apparent reason in the summer of 1987. Within a few weeks, the rest of the pods were said to have jumped on the bandwagon, turning the salmon carcasses into essential fashion accessories. Marine conservation charity ORCA —But it’s unclear whether the same thing will happen this time.
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Researchers believe salmon cap-wearing orcas may be familiar with a trend from when they first appeared nearly 40 years ago. “It seems like that may be the case for some individuals who have experienced it. [the behavior] We could have started all over again.” Andrew FooteAn evolutionary ecologist at the University of Oslo in Norway said: new scientist.
The motivation behind the salmon hat trend remains a mystery. “Honestly, your guess is as good as mine.” Deborah GilesHe is a killer whale researcher at the University of Washington and leads the science and research team at the non-profit organization Wild Orca, he told New Scientist.
Salmon caps are a perfect example of a behavior researchers call “epidemic.” It is a behavior that is initiated by one or two individuals and is temporarily adopted by others before the behavior disappears. In the 1980s, this trend lasted only one year. By the summer of 1988, dead fish had become completely obsolete and salmon caps had disappeared from the West Coast orca population.
Orca researchers’ best guess is that salmon cap prevalence is associated with high food availability. South Puget Sound is currently teeming with salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), and because there’s too much food to eat on the spot, killer whales may save money by balancing fish on their heads for later, New Scientist reports.
Killer whales have been seen hiding food in other places as well. “We saw mammal-eating killer whales carrying large amounts of prey, seemingly tucked under their pectoral fins and next to their bodies,” Giles said. Because the salmon is too small to be held tightly under a killer whale’s pectoral fin, the marine mammal may have opted for the top of its head instead.
Camera-equipped drones could help researchers monitor salmon-capped orcas in a way that wasn’t possible 37 years ago. “Over time, we may be able to gather enough information to show that, for example, a person held a fish for 30 minutes and then ate it,” Giles said.
But the food availability theory could be wrong. If the footage reveals that the killer whales are discarding the salmon rather than eating it, the researchers will be sent back to plan.
Whatever the reason for the behavior, Giles said it’s fun to see it come back in style. He continued, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen it in person.”
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