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How is the population of killer whales in the Puget Sound changing? The killer whale population is __________.

a. declining in numbers of its youngest killer
b. whales shifting its migration routes westward by more than 200 miles
c. declining in animals of all ages
d. declining in numbers of its oldest killer whale

User Axiverse
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Answer:

The killer whale population is declining in animals of all ages.

Step-by-step explanation:

There are three types of Orcas -Killer Whales- all around the world, characterized by different feeding habbits. One of them is the resident Orca that, among other places, inhabits waters of Puget Sound, feeding especially on salmon.

It has been years since these populations are sharply decreasing in size because of different problems related to humans.

The live capture practice is one of the most historical reasons for the decrease. They take animals to different sea parks in the world, an action that also implicates the death of other individuals.

In the past few years, the lack of their principal prey is another important cause that joins the first one. The lack of salmon leads to orcas to dye because of deficient nutrition or because of intoxication with contaminated prey.

Animals of all the age classes are being affected. There are registers of death of newborns, calves, sexually mature individuals, and the oldest ones.

Females with deficient nutrition lose their calves or have unsuccessful pregnancies. This occurs because they do not have enough energy to survive and to feed a newborn. Some females have lost 3 calves in a row because of this reason.

As a consequence of these actions, the resident Orcas from Puget Sound are listed as in dangered species.

User Juanlumn
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