New research suggests that inbreeding may be a key reason that the Pacific Northwest’s endangered population of killer whales has failed to recover despite decades of conservation efforts
and keep farther away from the animals to reduce their stress and to quiet the waters so they can better hunt.
“It’s not often inbreeding itself that will result in a shortened lifespan or kill an individual,” Parsons said. “It's really that inbreeding makes these individuals more vulnerable to disease or environmental factors. We can support the population by supporting the environment and giving them the best chance possible.”
While the southern residents' range overlaps with other populations of killer whales, they haven't regularly interbred in 30 generations, the researchers said. Today only 73 southern residents remain, according to the Center for Whale Research on Washington state's San Juan Island. That's just two more than in 1971. Of those captured, only one — 56-year-old Lolita, at the Miami Seaquarium — survives. The Seaquarium announced last year itPrior studies have suggested that inbreeding was a problem, including a 2018 study that found just two males had fathered more than half the calves born to the southern residents since 1990.
Meanwhile, conservation efforts have helped other North Pacific orca populations thrive. The northern resident killer whales have increased from about 122 animals in 1974 to more than 300 by 2018. Like the southern residents, they only eat fish, primarily salmon — unlike many other killer whales, which eat mammals such as seals.
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