Posted on 12/04/2024 1:01:19 PM PST by Red Badger
A group of orcas off the west coast of North America has brought back a bizarre fashion trend not seen since the late 1980s: wearing a single dead salmon on their heads as if it were a hat.
Experts are at a loss to explain why orcas would want to wear fish in the first place, let alone why they would want to bring back the practice almost 40 years after it stopped.
The salmon hat craze was first observed in 1987 when a female orca in the Puget Sound area of the northeast Pacific was seen carrying a solitary dead fish on her nose. Within a few weeks the behavior was picked up by members of other pods, suggesting something about it must have appealed.
orca with a fish on its head
An orca spotted in Puget Sound in October 2024 wearing a salmon on its head. (Jim Pasola/Orca Network Whale Sighting Report)
Strangely, it would be a seasonal fashion. By 1988 the behavior was apparently passé, stopping as suddenly as it started.
Recent observations from photographers and researchers have confirmed it's happening again.
It's not clear if the whales are showing off, or storing food to eat later. Orcas have been known to store pieces of spare food under their pectoral fins, so this may be an adapted form of that behavior.
It's possible there's some significance to the hats within the communities the orcas live in. It could simply be as it seems – whimsical absurdity that amuses the animals on some playful level.
Or it could just feel good. Humpback whales have previously been seen wearing hats of seaweed, which some have speculated is because they like the sensation. Considering orcas can live for up to 90 years, it could be that some of the same whales are involved (it's the same part of the ocean, and it's not been seen anywhere else). Maybe it was just time for a salmon hat revival.
"Honestly, your guess is as good as mine," Deborah Giles, the science and research director at the nonprofit Wild Orca, told Colin Barras at New Scientist.
However, while scientists may be stumped for an explanation right now, efforts are underway to find one. Plans are being made to use drones to monitor the behavior, and to try and figure out what the purpose of these hats are.
Orcas are smart animals, capable of communicating in different ways that facilitates cultural exchange across different regions. They also hunt in groups, devising intelligent hunting schemes to capture prey. Taken together, novel behaviors involving food might be expected to appear and spread from time to time.
Further observations just might reveal hidden details to this remarkable trend that make its functionality crystal clear.
"Over time, we may be able to gather enough information to show that, for instance, one carried a fish hat for 30 minutes or so, and then he ate it," Giles told New Scientist.
the way the looney leftists act i’m going with sockeye...
The answer is simple. The orcas do it because they can.
There really should be a law granting sentient protection to whales. They are magnificent and show obvious intelligence and self awareness.
Ever see dogs in the back seat of cars at a stoplight grab their toys and show off to dogs if there are any in the car next to them?
I had a pet rabbit. It was a great pet. Rabbits definitely have as much personality as a cat or dog but, being a prey animal, they are far more skittish and need to be handled calmly to keep them from freaking out.
Sea Turtle to Orca: “Don’t look down, but I think you just dropped something.’
Orca: “What?..(Splash!) Hey!”
Sea Turtle: “I told you not to look down! Thanks for the snack!”
Thankfully, they aren’t wearing lasers on their heads!
I believe it is New Years on the Orca calendar. They wear funny hats to celebrate.
At least it’s not a pancake.
True that.
Contrarian that I am, prove to me it’s not a salmon wearing an orca under its belly.
Obviously, part of the Orca 1%, showing off her wealth by wearing it. Thats what happened in 87 ... pretty soon all the Orca society members wanted to be seen as the elites, so they all started doing it. Died down when they realized everyone COULD do it, so it was really not showing them as special. Now, Nellie P Orca saw a pic of granny with a salmon on her head and we all know how much Nellie loves her grandma and Nellie thinks she is better than all the other Orcas, so she is reviving the tradition.
Another crazy tik tok challenge, obviously.
Maybe the pink pussyhat crowd can make a change.
The Ladies really go for a guy with a salmon on his head.
Maybe it was a gift for a hot orca chick.
Fellow bubbleheads wore that song out on a sub I was on in the late 70’s early 80’s. I hate it now, but it does bring back some good memories of some old friends.
They’re probably doing it for the clicks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.