Sleek. Legendary. Huge. Extremely vulnerable. That is the picture emerging from new research on killer whales from California to British Columbia to Alaska. Revered by some indigenous cultures as guardians of the sea and reincarnations of chiefs, orcas are apex predators whose numbers have dwindled. The new study is one of the first in-depth examinations into the causes of their mortality. Known as “killer whales” for their ability to prey on larger whales, orcas in the Pacific Northwest have suffered from fatal encounters with ships and other vessels, malnutrition, disease,…
