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

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

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.

A s anyone who follows fashion knows, certain trends like indie sleaze and cargo pants can come back around after a long and quite deserved break. Orcas, it seems, are not immune. After a 37-year break, killer whales have once again been spotted wearing dead salmon on their head.

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.