In the 1980s, researchers documented some strange orca behavior. In the Northwest Pacific ocean, orcas were seen with dead salmon on their heads like hats, although the purpose was unknown. This bizarre ritual seemed to end as quickly as it came. But like many trends from the 80s, it’s making a comeback. Scientists are taking this new opportunity to uncover the reason behind the orcas’ salmon hats.
The first sighting

In the summer of 1987, a female orca on the West Coast wore a salmon on her head for no apparent reason. But she had started a trend that lasted for several weeks. Researchers are unsure how long the fad will last this time around. But they speculate that the ones wearing salmon hats today may have also worn them almost 40 years ago.
“It does seem possible that some individuals that experienced [the behavior] the first time around may have started it again,” said Andrew Foote, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Oslo in Norway, to New Scientist.
The return of the orca salmon hat trend

On October 25, 2024, photographer Jim Pasola took a picture of an orca named J27 Blackberry with the silver fish on his head. Blackberry is 32 years old, thereby too young to have seen the previous salmon hat trend. But it is possible he had learned it from the elders in his pod.
The reasoning behind this behavior remains a mystery. “Honestly, your guess is as good as mine,” said Deborah Giles, an orca researcher at the University of Washington, and head of the science and research teams at the non-profit Wild Orca. She has pointed out the possibility of this being a normal habit that humans haven’t noticed until now.
Animal fads

Humans aren’t the only creatures who make fads. Salmon hats are an example of one or two animals initiating a new behavior that’s adopted by others until it’s “no longer fashionable”. Scientists speculate the emotions that make individuals susceptible to jumping on and off trends are not unique to humans.
“These are incredibly smart animals,” said Giles to National Geographic. “The paralimbic portion of their brain is significantly more developed than it is even in humans, and these are parts of their brains that are associated with memory, and emotion, and language.”
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Saving food for later

The best guesses by orca experts involves high food availability. That area, Washington State’s Puget Sound, is currently full of salmon, a common prey for orcas but the main diet of the residing pods. But since there are too many fish to consume at once, the killer whales may be “carrying” the food to eat later.
Taking leftovers

This is not the first time this species has stashed food. “We’ve seen mammal-eating killer whales carry large chunks of food under their pectoral fin, kind of tucked in next to their body,” Giles said. But since salmon is too small to be secure in their pectoral fin, they may be balancing them on their head instead.
Playing with their food

Another theory suggests the orcas are playing with their surplus of food. This idea is backed by the fact that more orcas in Blackberry’s pod had been seen in that area. Researchers have found that although orcas are social creatures, they spend more time foraging when food is scarce. Now, the clan may be enjoying their fortune by socializing and having fun.
Orcas just wanna have fun

This is not the first “whale fad” to appear, according to Monika Wieland Shields, director of the Orca Behavior Institute in Washington. “Once it was spy-hopping with dead salmon draped over their [pectoral] fins, and another time it was pulling kelp underwater and letting it go so it would fly up above the surface.”
However, Shields doesn’t believe Pasola’s photo is indicative of the return of the salmon hat fad. “In my opinion it’s a stretch to say it was a salmon hat, and an even greater stretch to say the fad is back off a single photo,” she said.
Further orca research is underway

Unlike in the 80s, researchers can use drones and cameras to monitor this new orca behavior up close. “Over time, we may be able to gather enough information to show that, for instance, one carried a fish for 30 minutes or so, and then he ate it,” Giles said. However, if the orcas prefer not to eat it, the food stash theory could be debunked.
No matter the reason, Giles is happy to see the return of the salmon hat trend. Whatever the reason for the behavior, she said it’s been fun to watch it come back in style. “It’s been a while since I’ve personally seen it.”
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