Chugach Transient Alaskan Orcas

Photo by Eva Saulitis, North Gulf Oceanic Society

This beautiful shot taken last summer in Resurrection Bay, showing six of the seven remaining Chugach transient orcas in existence, is this weeks Science Photo of the Week. Click here for the larger version.

As Eva points out the species Orcinus orca itself is not endangered, but some of the geographically and genetically distinct populations are. The AT1 (Chugach) transient population which Eva studies is designated as threatened under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, of which there are only seven left.

To learn more about Alaskan orcas you can visit the North Gulf Oceanic Society website, or check out Eva Saulitis’ book Into Great Silence: A Memoir of Discovery and Loss among Vanishing Orcas