A study led by University of British Columbia scientists concludes that not all salmon are equal when it comes to nourishing the rare whales, whose total population has dwindled to 73.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails or any newsletter.
The study says the most endangered types of Fraser River chinook are also the most energy-rich prey for the whales. “A lot of research looked at the abundance of salmon, but we thought it was important to try to understand how the energy density of chinook salmon differs between the different populations of chinook salmon and when these different populations of chinook salmon are available to killer whales,” said Lerner.Article content
Lerner said quantifying the lipid content from the Fraser salmon plays a role in helping killer whales because the migratory animals that always return to the Salish Sea for spring and summer, often coinciding with the arrival of the spring-run salmon.