[CINC] Scientists want to call transient killer whales -- Bigg's

[Catherine French]

In a recent email from AlisaSchumann-Janiger of the ACS, referred to three transient Orcas some of us werelucky to observe near Anacapa Island on January 19 attacking three mature graywhales and later a common dolphin. All Cetecea survived!
 
This article explains why scientistswould like to change the designation of transient killer whales to Bigg’skiller whales.
 
To see complete article cut andpaste the link into your browser.
http://peninsulaclarion.com/news/2012-11-25/researchers-want-new-name-for-transient-killer-whales
Researcherswant new name for transient killer whales
Posted: November 25, 2012 - 9:04pm | Updated: November 25, 2012 - 9:08pm
AssociatedPress 
 





ANCHORAGE— If whale expert John K.B. Ford has his way, school children one day willstudy a kind of North Pacific killer whale that preys on warm-blooded creatures— mostly harbor seals and sea lions, but also gray whales and seabirds.
They roam as far north as the ArcticOcean and are now known as “transients” to distinguish them from fish-eating“resident” killer whales.
Ford and colleagues from Alaska toCalifornia want transient killer whales to be declared their own species, andthey want them to have a new name: Bigg’s killer whales, in honor of MichaelBigg, the researcher whose observations off British Columbia and Washingtonstate led to the identification of transients and whose mentoring inspired ageneration of researchers still uncovering the mysteries of the animal at thetop of the marine food chain.
“Hewas really very much the founding father of modern scientific studies regardingkiller whales,” Ford said from his office at the Pacific Biological Station inNanaimo, B.C., where he heads West Coast cetacean research for Canada’sDepartment of Fisheries and Oceans.
Calm Seas,
 
Catherine French
Writer, mentor, naturalist
805.570.0432
To own is tohave; to share with friends, is to enjoy.
 
 
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