Dozens of exotic orca whales have been spotted off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, near Vancouver Island. Usually found cruising along California’s continental shelf, these strangers from the south go by many names — exotics, transients and outer-coastal orcas. They have a little bit of a different look to them, Mark Malleson, a local whale watcher, told the Seattle Times, explaining that they’re not identical to the resident orcas. They’re just a little fatter and sassier. Resident whales eat a diet of almost only Chinook salmon, whereas the outer-coastal whales hunt seals, porpoises and marine mammals. Only 78 resident whales were seen in Puget Sound in 2014, the fewest since the 1980s. And a 10-year study of the whales, conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, concluded that the population continues to struggle to recover. Their salmon supply is dwindling, but the orcas’ problems also stretch back decades. ★*¨*•This was the group of whales rounded up by SeaWorld 40 years ago •*¨★*¨*•
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 03:46:57 +0000
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