April 1, 2016 — SEATTLE — The killer whales that spend time in the inland waters of Washington state already are tagged and tracked, photographed and measured.
Researchers follow them by drone and by sea, analyzing their waste and their exhaled breath.
Now, experts want to add another layer to the exhaustive studies: individual health records for each endangered whale.
The records would take existing research on the creatures and combine it in one place. The idea is to use them to monitor the orcas’ health trends individually and as a population. It’s similar to people having one medical record as they move from one doctor to the next or between specialists.
Eighty-four orcas typically appear in Puget Sound from spring to fall.