UBC researchers believe a group of killer whales observed hunting marine mammals including sperm whales, as well as a sea turtle, in the open ocean off California and Oregon could be a new population.
Based on available evidence, the researchers posit in a new study published in Aquatic Mammals that the 49 orcas could belong to a subpopulation of transient killer whales or a unique oceanic population found in waters off the coast of California and Oregon.
"The open ocean is the largest habitat on our planet and observations of killer whales in the high seas are rare," said first author Josh McInnes, a masters student in the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF)."In this case, we're beginning to get a sense of killer whale movements in the open ocean and how their ecology and behaviour differs from populations inhabiting coastal areas."
