Orcas revive bizarre salmon hat trend in the Pacific waters
In the waters of the northwestern Pacific, worrying behaviour among orcas has been observed. These mammals have started wearing dead salmon on their heads again. This trend first appeared in the 1980s.
The macabre trend of wearing "hats" made of dead fish was first noticed in 1987. Experts from the ORCA organisation indicate that a female started it.
Over time, this behaviour was adopted by the whole pod, but the trend lasted only a year, ending in 1988. Now, nearly four decades later, orcas have been seen swimming with salmon on their heads again in the southern part of Puget Sound and off the coast of Point No Point, Washington State.
The new trend is due to the large availability of salmon
According to scientists, the trend may have returned thanks to orcas that remember this behaviour from the past. Andrew Foote, an ecologist from the University of Oslo, explained in an interview with New Scientist that we suspect individuals who previously exhibited this behaviour have started doing it again.
Wearing "hats" is an example of behaviour described by researchers as a fad. It involves single individuals initiating an action that becomes popular in the group for a short time. This phenomenon has no practical purpose and fades away over time.
Experts speculate that orcas' current behaviour may be related to the exceptionally large availability of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), a fish from the salmon family, in the southern part of Puget Sound.
The new trend is intended for food transport
Deborah Giles from the University of Washington explains that marine mammals can store larger pieces of food under their fins. In the case of small fish like salmon, it's harder to find a suitable place to store them, which is why the animals transport them on their heads. Similar behaviour has also been observed in other Pacific regions—with orcas holding food in various parts of their bodies to save it for later.
Although it is unknown whether the current trend will spread more widely, the reappearance of this phenomenon is a fascinating example of social interactions in the wild animal world.
