Outer coast killer whales, a newly identified type of orca, have a vocal dialect and culture distinct from their West Coast cousins in B.C. and specialize in hunting big game, such as gray whale calves, massive elephant seals, and sea lions in California ocean waters.
Laguna Beach nonprofit Pacific Marine Mammal Center is using a grant to help perform hands-free health checkups on killer whales that could shed light on wider population decline.
UpdatedTue, Jan 19, 2021 at 10:33 am PT
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Laguna Beach s Pacific Marine Mammal Center will support the population recovery of the 73 remaining Southern resident killer whales. (NOAA)
LAGUNA BEACH, CA Almost $1 million in grants were awarded through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for its Killer Whale Research and Conservation Program last month. The Laguna Beach centered Pacific Marine Mammal Center will split a portion in a collaborative effort to support the population recovery of the 73 remaining Southern resident killer whales.
The Pacific Marine Mammal Center received a grant of nearly $55,000 to develop a methodology to remotely assess these giant whales health while keeping hands-off the leviathans.