New Science on California Orcas

While killer whales are found in all of the world's oceans, their lives in the wild are poorly understood, in part because there are tremendous differences between different groups of orcas. Though the species range spans the globe from pole to pole, individual orcas belong to regional ecological groups, called ecotypes that have distinct ranges and behaviors. Scientists recognize at least 10 ecotypes for the species worldwide, three of which can be found off California: Southern Resident, Transient, and Offshore. 

Sarah will delve into the different killer whale "ecotypes" that regularly visit the waters of central California and how the Marine Mammal Stranding Network (a group of agencies, organizations and volunteers) retrieved an entire killer whale skeleton for display at the California Academy of Sciences for their "Built for Speed" exhibit. 

Speaker: Sarah Allen