Killer whales bring back bizarre ‘80s fashion trend’ – using dead fish as trendy hats to ‘relive their youth’
KILLER whales are bringing back a bizarre 80s trend – and scientists think they are trying to relieve their youth.
The sea creatures are wearing dead fish on their heads in the US, suggesting that even orcas are slaves to fashion fads.
The bizarre salmon headgear baffled experts in the summer of 1987, and nearly 40 years later the reason behind the hats is still a mystery.
In October, orcas were seen swimming with the dead fish on their heads in South Puget Sound and off Point No Point, Washington State.
Funny pics of the animals show the dead salmon perching on their heads, as they continue to swim around as if nothing has changed.
Experts believe that the trend is being reignited by those who were a part of it back then.
Andrew Foote, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Oslo in Norway, told New Scientist: “It does seem possible that some individuals that experienced [the behavior] the first time around may have started it again.”
Deborah Giles, an orca researcher at the University of Washington, is equally confused, commenting: “Honestly, your guess is as good as mine.”
Currently, the best guess is that it has something to do with excess food availability.
South Puget Sound is currently teeming with chum salmon, according to reports.
With such a high number floating about, orcas may be simply saving their food for later.
But this theory could be wrong, with scientists now able to observe the creatures like never before.
THE ORIGINAL 1987 TREND
In the summer of 1987, a female orca is thought to have started the trend off for no apparent reason.
Within a few weeks, the rest of the pod had jumped on the bandwagon.
The salmon corpses were turned into must-have fashion accessories.
New drone technology not available in 1987 has allowed experts to capture the whales in action – fish hats and all – in a way they haven’t been able to previously.
Giles continued: “We’ve seen mammal-eating killer whales carry large chunks of food under their pectoral fin, kind of tucked in next to their body.
“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.”
Salmon hats are a perfect example of what researchers call a “fad” — a behaviour initiated by one or two individuals.
This is then temporarily picked up by others before it’s abandoned.
Then, the trend ended after a year, and wouldn’t resurface for several decades.
It is unknown what the theories were back then as to why this was happening, or how long it might continue for.