Comment on Study links at-risk orcas' failed pregnancies to scarce food

Study links at-risk orcas' failed pregnancies to scarce food

Researchers analyzed hormones in excrement collected at sea and found that more than two-thirds of orca pregnancies failed over a seven-year period. "A large number of whales are conceiving, but when nutrition is poor, they don't sustain those pregnancies," said Sam Wasser, lead author of the paper and a biology professor at the University of Washington. Many species of Chinook salmon along West Coast are listed as threatened or endangered due to a host of factors, including loss of habitat from urban development, dams, fishing, pollution and competition from non-native fish. Using dogs trained to sniff out whale poop, a team of scientists collected nearly 350 excrement samples from 79 unique whales in inland waters of British Columbia and Washington state between 2008 and 2014. The data over time suggest the orcas experienced periodic nutritional stress, partly caused by variation in the timing and strength of the salmon runs in the Columbia and Fraser rivers, the study said. Transient resident whales that feed on marine mammals confront similar boat noise and pollution but haven't had the same kind of pregnancy problems as the fish-eating whales.

 

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