Biologyboii

Biologyboii t1_j6m370i wrote

Reply to comment by SunsetKittens in High levels of ‘forever chemical’ found in endangered orcas in Canada by sector3011

There are different eco types. So they are cultural and eat different things all over the world. The only ones that feed on herring are in Norway, the ones in New Zealand have learnt to eat sting rays, the ones off Patagonia in Argentina have learnt to come on the beach for seals. All these technics are passed on to the offspring and they are culturally different.

Here in Canada we have a few ecotypes. On the west coast of BC there’s technically 3 kinds. Transient (also known as Bigg’s), resident and offshore. We never really see the offshore killer whales. They are the ones that eat sharks, mainly thresher sharks, and it wears their teeth down to the nub so their family members have to feed the old ones.

Of the residents, there are three populations. They even sound different, think of them like Scotland, Ireland and England. They sound similar but are different. These resident killer whales specialize in eating fish, particularly chinook salmon. Not all salmon species, predominantly just chinook. The southern resident population, made of three pods (J-pod, K-pod, and L-pod) have a naturally low population but naturally low population in the most trafficked waters on the west coast are the ones hurting.

All this being said, all killer whales are clearly dominant species, so the bio accumulation is severe. They rate high on many toxins from micro plastics to mercury. And the marine ecosystem there’s particular build up, even more so than land.

So yeah, killer whales are abundant as a whole, but not all ecotypes are. They even have different physical attributes and cultures. You, as a rookie, could tell them apart once told what to look for. And ideally, we’d like to see all ecotypes persist :)

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