/newsroom/taxonomy/term/16062/all en /newsroom/channels/news/tastes-differ-even-among-north-atlantic-killer-whales-347500 <p>Killer whales (also known as orcas) are intelligent predators. While it’s known that killer whales in the Pacific Northwest exploit widely different food types, even within the same region, we know much less about the feeding habits of those found throughout the North Atlantic. Thanks to a new technique developed by a research team led by ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ University, it is now possible to quantify, for the first time, the proportion of different prey that killer whales in the North Atlantic are eating by studying the fatty acid patterns in their blubber.</p> Thu, 30 Mar 2023 20:30:57 +0000 katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca 297996 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/pcb-contamination-icelandic-orcas-matter-diet-330886 <p><i>Image caption: These killer whales may appear healthy, but a new study has found extremely high levels of PCB contamination in some of the whales. There was a 300-fold difference between the levels of PCBs among the most contaminated orcas compared to the least contaminated ones. The variation was mainly due to their eating habits. CREDIT: Filipa Samarra - Icelandic Orca Project</i></p> Thu, 06 May 2021 14:01:45 +0000 katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca 263707 at /newsroom