The salmon hat craze was first observed in 1987 when a female orca in the Puget Sound area of the northeast Pacific was seen carrying a solitary dead fish on her nose. Within a few weeks the behavior was picked up by members of other pods, suggesting something about it must have appealed.

An especially popular killer whale put a dead fish on his head, in a throwback to a fashion last seen in the 1980s.

Orcas have been spotted wearing dead salmon on their head like hats, a trend that hasn't been popular with the whales since the 1980s.

The fashionistas of the ocean have spoken, and it’s official -- salmon hats are making a comeback among orcas.

About 40 years ago, researchers noticed a population of orcas had begun swimming around with dead fish on their heads, and now the craze is back

The J-, K- and L-pods are down to just 73 orcas, according to the latest census completed in July by the Center for Whale Research, based in Friday Harbor, Washington. Two adult males were lost and a male calf that was born and counted in the census period subsequently died.

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.