Killer whales bring back bizarre ‘80s fashion trend’ – using dead fish as trendy hats to ‘relive their youth’

KILLER whales are bringing backmost a bizarre 80s inclination - and scientists deliberation they are trying to relieve their youth.

The oversea creatures are wearing dormant food on their heads successful the US, suggesting that adjacent orcas are slaves to manner fads.

The bizarre salmon headgear baffled experts successful the summer of 1987, and astir 40 years aboriginal the crushed down the hats is inactive a mystery.

In October, orcas were seen swimming with the dormant food connected their heads successful South Puget Sound and disconnected Point No Point, Washington State.

Funny pics of the animals amusement the dormant salmon perching connected their heads, arsenic they proceed to aquatics astir arsenic if thing has changed.

Experts judge that the inclination is being reignited by those who were a portion of it backmost then.

Andrew Foote, an evolutionary ecologist astatine the University of Oslo successful Norway, told New Scientist: "It does look imaginable that immoderate individuals that experienced [the behavior] the archetypal clip astir whitethorn person started it again."

Deborah Giles, an orca researcher astatine the University of Washington, is arsenic confused, commenting: "Honestly, your conjecture is arsenic bully arsenic mine."

Currently, the champion conjecture is that it has thing to bash with excess nutrient availability.

South Puget Sound is presently teeming with chum salmon, according to reports.

With specified a precocious fig floating about, orcas whitethorn beryllium simply redeeming their nutrient for later.

But this mentation could beryllium wrong, with scientists present capable to observe the creatures similar ne'er before.

THE ORIGINAL 1987 TREND

In the summer of 1987, a pistillate orca is thought to person started the inclination disconnected for nary evident reason.

Within a fewer weeks, the remainder of the pod had jumped connected the bandwagon.

The salmon corpses were turned into must-have manner accessories.

New drone technology not disposable successful 1987 has allowed experts to seizure the whales successful enactment - food hats and each - successful a mode they haven't been capable to previously.

Giles continued: "We've seen mammal-eating slayer whales transportation ample chunks of nutrient nether their pectoral fin, benignant of tucked successful next to their body.

"Over time, we whitethorn beryllium capable to stitchery capable accusation to amusement that, for instance, 1 carried a food for 30 minutes oregon so, and past helium ate it."

Salmon hats are a cleanable illustration of what researchers telephone a "fad" — a behaviour initiated by 1 oregon 2 individuals.

This is past temporarily picked up by others earlier it's abandoned.

Then, the inclination ended aft a year, and wouldn't resurface for respective decades.

It is chartless what the theories were backmost past arsenic to wherefore this was happening, oregon however agelong it mightiness proceed for.