![]() His name and image are still symbols of the company. Weiss worries that this maternal strategy, which served this population so well in the past, could raise their risk of extinction - that the kind of lifelong bonds he's seen between K16 and her son may tether these creatures to an uncertain fate.Colonel Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890 –ĭecember 16, 1980) was an American businessman, best known for founding fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC) and later acting as the company's brand ambassador and symbol. ![]() "So investing in sons for a population like ours that is so stressed is really not ideal." "That's how you keep a population of slow-breeding animals going," says Weiss. And what these orcas really need right now is more reproductive females. In recent years, the population has cratered to just 73 animals. Southern Resident killer whales like K16 and K35 are in trouble. It's worth mentioning that this strategy of moms investing so much in their sons has a dark side. "And only then can we start getting a better understanding of how important it is for the conservation of those different populations." ![]() "There could be direct comparisons possible across populations," says Jourdain. Jourdain, who wasn't involved in the study, is hoping to conduct a similar research project in Norway. "It's an amazing piece of work," says Eve Jourdain, the director of the Norwegian Orca Survey. ![]() And because they'll be born into other pods, she wouldn't have to spend any effort raising them. Her genes would end up in a bunch of calves. The result is that his mom would become a grandmother multiple times over. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the next few calves that get popped out in the population are his," says Weiss. That means he's ready to become a father. "He's grown big and healthy and looks good." "K35 is now one of our biggest males in the population," says Weiss. So why would these orca moms sacrifice so much for their sons? Weiss argues the potential payoff is huge. Weiss can't think of another animal that makes this never-ending investment when it has the option of reproducing multiple times. "We think that is largely because they're seeing a huge reduction in the amount of food they get," explains Weiss. In fact, when a mom dies, her son usually perishes within a year or two. "And they do this throughout their son's life and never really stop paying that cost to keep their sons alive." That cost is that they have fewer offspring. "Killer whale mothers pay a really huge cost to take care of their sons," says Weiss. In a paper out this week in the journal Current Biology, Weiss and his colleagues looked back across four decades of life history records of Southern Resident killer whales in the Pacific Northwest. And they've produced three or four offspring." "Some whales started reproducing at the same age around the same time," says Weiss, "and they had daughters. Contrast that with other females in the population. So she's sharing a huge amount of food."Īnd here's the striking thing - since K35 was born two decades ago, his mom has never had another calf. So his mom will often dive down, says Weiss, "catch a salmon, and bring it up to the surface and actually bite half of the fish off and leave that half for her son. All this means that a male like K35 needs help getting enough food. They're also less maneuverable, which may make it harder for them to catch prey. Male orcas are massive, and so are their appetites. Weiss has observed the mom and son pair spending a lot of time close together, touching and floating at the surface - and sharing salmon.
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