Orca Spotted Doing Something Really Weird In Puzzling Throwback To The 1980s
HuffPost
A killer whale in the waters off Washington state is making a big splash by reviving an old trend.
Dead salmon hats for fall? Groundbreaking.
In the summer of 1987, orcas from the Pacific Northwest’s “southern resident” population started doing something that fascinated and perplexed human observers: wearing dead salmon on their heads. The daring fashion statement started with one female, but then spread to killer whales in other pods. Soon, though, fish carcass headgear seemed to have gone the way of the poodle perm ― but not anymore.
Over the past few weeks, orca enthusiasts have spotted at least one killer whale sporting the throwback accessory.
“We saw one with a fish on its head,” Deborah Giles, the research director for the nonprofit Wild Orca, told New Scientist. “So that was fun – it’s been a while since I’ve personally seen it.”
Photographer Jim Pasola snapped a picture of a male orca known as J27 Blackberry boldly flaunting a fishy adornment near Washington state’s Kitsap Peninsula on Oct. 25.
