this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2024
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And Finally...

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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.

This is the first time they've donned the bizarre headgear since the summer of 1987, when a trendsetting female West Coast orca kickstarted the behavior for no apparent reason. Within a couple of weeks, the rest of the pod had jumped on the bandwagon and turned salmon corpses into must-have fashion accessories, according to the marine conservation charity ORCA — but it's unclear whether the same will happen this time around.

Researchers think the orcas sporting salmon hats now may be veterans of the trend when it first appeared nearly 40 years ago. "It does seem possible that some individuals that experienced [the behavior] the first time around may have started it again," Andrew Foote, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Oslo in Norway, told New Scientist.

The motivation for the salmon hat trend remains a mystery. "Honestly, your guess is as good as mine," Deborah Giles, an orca researcher at the University of Washington who also heads the science and research teams at the non-profit Wild Orca, told New Scientist.

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[–] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 28 points 1 month ago

Orca fashion news will always be more interesting than human fashion news

[–] doctortofu@reddthat.com 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

How does that even work under water? Like, how are the "hats" affixed and what to? I have so many questions...

[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Yeah I was trying to look for more pictures in the article to explain this, but I still don’t get it.

[–] evidences@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Has this replaced attacking yachts or are they wearing salmon hats while sinking boats?

[–] grue@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago

No, these are west coast hipster orcas. The ones attacking boats are European hooligan orcas.

[–] Emperor 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I think, if you are going to sink yachts, you should look swanky while doing it.

[–] mmhmm@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 month ago

I think the yacht sinking pod is in the Atlantic near Morocco. The Salmon wearing pod is in the Pacific neat Seattle

[–] Flax_vert 1 points 1 month ago

Nature is healing