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A large share of chinook salmon heading to the Fraser River each summer may have to be earmarked for endangered resident killer whales if the whale population is to recover.
This study estimates that 87 whales in the three resident pods consume between 12 and 23 per cent of the average 300,000 chinook that head for the Fraser River each summer. Each whale needs about 670 fish a day and 42 per cent more if it is a nursing female.
"Our research indicates that southern resident killer whales easily consume 100,000 chinook each year and, depending on their winter diet, their requirements could easily be double that," said co-author Erin Ashe.
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