The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has completed a genetic study that has concluded that about 300 North Pacific Transients offer enough DNA difference to classify them as a unique species. Scientists involved in the study believe that this separation from its cousins began hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Unlike Resident Orcas that do not stray very far from their home territory during summer, live in large family groups, feed on salmon, and return year after year to the same area, Transients roam over a larger coastal area, travel and hunt in small groups, and prefer sea lion or seal meat.
If this new evidence is supported by the broader scientific community, it would mean that this scarce orca community of an estimated 300, would qualify as an endangered species.
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