Northwest Pacific orcas have started wearing salmon hats again, bringing back a bizarre trend first described in the 1980s, researchers say.
Last month, scientists and whale watchers spotted orcas (Orcinus orca) in South Puget Sound and off Point No Point in Washington State swimming with dead fish on their heads .
Researchers think the orcas sporting salmon hats now may be veterans of the trend when it first appeared nearly 40 years ago.
Back in the 1980s, the trend only lasted a year; by the summer of 1988, dead fish were totally passé and salmon hats disappeared from the West Coast orca population.
Salmon is probably too small to fit securely under orcas' pectoral fins, so the marine mammals may have opted for the top of their heads instead.
Camera-equipped drones could help researchers monitor salmon hat-wearing orcas in a way that was not possible 37 years ago.
Whatever the reason for the behavior, Giles said it's been fun to watch it come back in style. »
