Orcas off the coast of Mexico have devised a cunning strategy to hunt and kill whale sharks, and marine scientists have documented the behavior for the first time. A pod of killer whales has revived a curious trend from the 1980s in which they swim around with dead salmon balanced on their heads.

I n late October, observers off the coast of Washington State witnessed an unusual sight: orcas swimming with dead salmon perched on their heads. This behavior, first noted in 198

Sometimes, nature surprises us with behavior that feels more like a quirky human trend than an animal instinct. That’s exactly what’s happening off the Pacific Northwest coast, where orcas are once again donning “hats” made from dead salmon.

On October 25, an Orca whale from a group of whales called the J pod was spotted with a dead salmon perched on top of its head as it swam through Puget Sound in Washington State, USA. A quick-thinking onlooker snapped a pic and sent it to the Orca Network,