SEATTLE — For more than a century, killer whales have been understood to be just one worldwide species, Orcinus orca, with many types.
But now, after decades of work, scientists have determined the differences between the two types of killer whales that frequent the Salish Sea are so large, they ought to be designated separate species all together.
“It has been so long getting to this point,” said Phil Morin, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center.
Morin, of the center’s Marine Mammal Genetics Program, is the lead author of a paper published Tuesday night in the journal Royal Society Open Science, which officially proposes the new species designations to the international scientific community. Next, the Society for Marine Mammalogy’s taxonomy committee will vote on the proposal and could make the designations in the next few months, according to a NOAA spokesperson.