cog-nito:

Good news for New Zealand orca!

New Zealand’s orca pod, one of the most genetically and behaviorally diverse subspecies of orca in the world, might have reason to be hopeful even after the recent deaths last year. Dr. Ingrid Visser, the most accredited orca research scientist in the South Pacific, has spotted a new individual in the 70 member strong North Island population. First seen swimming with Venus and Miracle, Ingrid has nicknamed this orca Storm. Storm has a distinctive notch at the base of her dorsal fin and is believed to have originated elsewhere than New Zealand’s resident orca population. She has a cookiecutter shark bite on her dorsal side which indicates so. Although cookiecutter sharks frequent many of the world’s major tropical and warm temperate waters, Visser says cookiecutter bites on New Zealand orca are rare.

Even one individual added to the New Zealand pods is fantastic, considering orca reproduce approximately once every five years and these orca are hardly doing so due to ingestation of PCBs, DDTs, and flame retardants. 80% of the orca’s diet consists of rays, and rays are heading closer to shore to escape the orca (which results in close proximity to industrial chemicals and runs the risk of orca strandings). All in all, Storm’s presence is a phenomenal occurrence! 

Photo credits: Orca Research Trust (PS: The above photo is not Storm. I couldn’t find a picture of her.)

(via sircharles-kins)