Photo by Shutterstock/qingqing
Tourists love the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest, and it turns out killer whales do too!
The cold-water loving mammals have been flooding into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and scientists are puzzled as to why.
The whales – a subgroup of the West Coast population of transient orcas – are usually found off the continental shelf of California.
Killer whales do migrate, but transient orcas prefer long-distance travel, not the short distance between California and Washington. They migrate as they follow prey and water temperature.
Some scientists believe the recent arrival of these orcas in the Pacific Northwest is for those reasons, but biologists are puzzled, admitting they haven’t had enough time to study this group yet.
“Frankly, we don’t know a lot about the movement of these whales on the outer coast,” Brad Hanson, a wildlife biologist for the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, told The Seattle Times.
Mark Malleson, a veteran guide with Victoria-based Prince of Whales Whale Watching, said, “They have a little bit of a different look to them. They’re just a little fatter and sassier.”
The orcas haven’t entered the Puget Sound yet, and if they do, researchers say they pose no risk to local orcas.
Read more from upi.com.