No, Orcas Probably Aren’t Reviving the ‘Dead Salmon Hat’ Trend, Despite a Viral Photo, Experts Say. Here’s Why

In the 1980s, an orca on the West Coast of the United States started a strange trend that was quickly adopted not just by her pod, but by individuals from other pods, too: wearing dead salmon hats. And yes, that is exactly what it sounds like.

But after the orcas took to carrying dead salmon on their heads, the behavior disappeared. Seemingly, it went out of style—just as quickly as it had caught on. Recently, however, people began speculating that the fishy headgear has been adopted once again by a population of northeast Pacific orcas known as the Southern Residents.

This fall, whale watchers and scientists in Washington State witnessed at least two sightings of orcas swimming with a fish on their heads in South Puget Sound and off Point No Point. In late October, the Orca Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public on killer whales, published a photo of one of the sightings in its newsletter. Consequently, the image “sparked a firestorm of memes and media attention about the retro trend returning,” Stephanie Raymond, program manager of Orca Network, tells Smithsonian magazine in an email.

But some experts are trying to put the brakes on describing this image as the revival of a bygone fashion statement. “In my opinion, it’s a stretch to say it was a salmon hat, and an even greater stretch to say the fad is back off a single photo,” Monika Wieland Shields, director of the Orca Behavior Institute, tells CHEK News.

Raymond echoes that sentiment, suggesting that if the behavior really was widespread, other observers would have spotted it by now.

“When the Southern Resident orcas visit the inland waters of Puget Sound, there is no shortage of eyes on the water and cameras capturing their visit, in addition to permitted research vessels carefully observing them,” Raymond says. “If the salmon ‘wearing’ behavior exhibited by the whale… was, in fact, a revival of the old trend, there would be ample documentation of that.”

“In fact, there have been no other further recent images of these orcas wearing salmon hats,” she adds.

Deborah Giles, science and research director for the nonprofit organization Wild Orca, also recently spotted an orca with a dead salmon on its head, but the animal disappeared before anyone could get a picture.

But to her, the behavior isn’t completely unfamiliar. In 19 years of field work with these orcas, Giles tells Smithsonian magazine she’s seen the behavior “maybe a handful of times.” Scientists don’t know why it happens, she adds, and they don’t know how often it occurs.

Regardless, some researchers are offering guesses. “Maybe it’s to impress another member [of the pod],” Andrew Trites, director of the University of British Columbia’s Marine Mammal Research Unit, muses on CBC Radio West. “Maybe they just like the smell of dead fish.” He adds that it could also be a sign of playfulness.

In general, orcas do sometimes engage with what researchers call a “fad”: a trend started by one or a few individuals that gets briefly adopted by others, per Live Science’s Sascha Pare.

“Killer whales do have fads that come and go, and they’re often most prevalent among certain sex and age classes in the population. Then, over time, they tend to disappear,” Jared Towers, director of the conservation group Bay Cetology, told Discover magazine’s Sean Mowbray in 2022 while discussing another mysterious orca behavior: ramming into boats.

The Southern Resident orcas are a critically endangered population of just 73 individuals living in the northeast Pacific Ocean. They’re “certainly worthy of our fascinated attention, but there is so much more about them to investigate and appreciate” beyond the salmon hats, Raymond says. For example, the orcas can often be observed “kelping”—dragging seaweed around—sometimes carrying it on their dorsal fin or snout.

The dead-salmon-hat trend disappeared, “like so many questionable choices in dress,” per Futurism’s Frank Landymore, and despite what the internet says, it probably hasn’t made a comeback yet. If the trend ever does return, however, scientists can now—unlike in the ’80s—more easily use technology such as drones to observe the orcas, and potentially solve the mystery.

Editor’s note, December 6, 2024: This story has been updated to clarify Deborah Giles’ interpretation of the orca behavior.

Margherita Bassi | READ MORE

Margherita Bassi is a freelance journalist and trilingual storyteller. Her work has appeared in publications including BBC Travel, Discover magazine, Live Science, Atlas Obscura and Hidden Compass.