The original fishers of Chinook salmon, Southern Resident Orcas, coevolved with their prey hundreds of thousands of years ago. It only took a handful of the massive fish that once weighed up to 100 pounds each, to feed one whale per day. With the dwindling size and population of Chinook, the orcas are struggling for survival. To prevent the loss of both species, Wild Fish Conservancy, a Washington-based nonprofit, has filed a lawsuit in hopes to prevent overfishing by the Southeast Alaskan fishing industry. NOAA’s most recent review of the fishery, the analysis challenged in this lawsuit, concluded that under the existing management and recovery regimes over the last decade, salmon availability has not been sufficient to support SRKW or Chinook population growth. Even though this fishery contributes to that problem, NOAA approved continued harvest by citing speculative and unproven plans to mitigate the harm.
A new study has found that male southern resident killer whales are less likely to get scraped up by other whales when they have their post-menopausal mothers by their sides.
As orcas have repeatedly rammed boats in waters off the Iberian Peninsula, experts who study the killer whales behavior on the other side of the world believe aggression is likely not to blame for the bumpings.
Despite the seemingly playful intentions, these interactions have resulted in real damage to boats. Spanish and Portuguese coasts have witnessed numerous incidents this year, including a sailing boat that suffered a broken rudder and hull damage, necessitating a rescue.