A group of killer whales was spotted looking for a meal in Vancouver Harbour this week.

The Biggsa国际传媒檚 killer whales, also known as transient whales, were seen Tuesday hunting for seals sa国际传媒� a more common occurrence as the weather warms up.

Unlike resident orcas, Biggsa国际传媒檚 whales feed on marine mammals like seals, sea lions, dolphins and other whales.

sa国际传媒淗arbour seals are popular prey for these apex predators and theysa国际传媒檙e discovering hot spots where they can find an abundance of them sa国际传媒� it appears the Vancouver harbour might be one of those spots,sa国际传媒� said Lance Barrett-Lennard, director of the Vancouver Aquariumsa国际传媒檚 Marine Mammal Research Centre, in a news release.

Exactly one week ago, a different pod of Biggsa国际传媒檚 whales was seen hunting in the harbour. Some of the oldest members were born as far back as 1986, according to researchers.

They are still threatened under the Species at Risk Act, but B.C.sa国际传媒檚 population of Biggsa国际传媒檚 are recovering, now at more than 300. Barrett-Lennard pointed to the healthy population of seals and sea lions as a main reason for the growth.

Researchers at the centre have been conducting a multi-year study of killer whales in the northeast Pacific Ocean, using unmanned drones to collect high-resolution images they then analyze to measure growth rates and changes in body condition.

They hope to determine whether orcas are getting their basic nutritional requirements, and to look at the impact of fluctuations in salmon population on body condition.

The study comes as calls grow to bring back the sea lion cull to protect Chinook salmon sa国际传媒� the main food source for resident orcas, but not transients.

sa国际传媒淜illing pinnipeds to protect Chinook salmon and help resident killer whales is akin to robbing Peter to pay Paul,sa国际传媒� he said.

sa国际传媒淎 cull of the seal population in the Salish Sea would negatively impact mammal-eating killer whales, and because seals eat more salmon predators than they do salmon, it could even harm the fish-eating whales.sa国际传媒�

ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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