336 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



killer whale that we saw closely enough for identification. It is 

 of interest to note Turner's remarks on the killers (1886, p. 198) : 



The Aleuts speak of the killer as Ag-lyuk; and, to another species, which 

 they recognize, they give the name Um-gu-likh. I have seen what I believe 

 to be 2 species, and perhaps 3 species, of the so-called "killers," swimming 

 together, all moving in the same direction. 



Dall (1870, p. 579) lists two killers for Alaska, Orca ater, and 

 Orca rectipinna. We did not obtain the impression of more than 

 one kind of killer whale, but our observations could not be con- 

 clusive on that point. 



The killer whale is common along Alaska Peninsula and 

 throughout the Aleutians. We found a dead one on Agattu Island. 

 We generally saw them in small groups, or alone, but as many as 

 25 in a school were recorded. The most common number for 

 a group was three. Ernest P. Walker (unpublished notes) has 

 recorded some large schools of killer whales. On September 16, 

 1913, in Icy Straits, he saw a school of 500 or more; on July 19, 

 1915, near Port Armstrong he saw another school of about 300. 

 He quotes Captain Louis L. Lowe to the effect that he had seen 

 schools of 400 to 1,500 off the southwestern end of Kodiak Island, 

 and, in April 1922, he saw a school of about 1,000 off Ugak 

 Island near the Kodiak coast. "They were apparently headed 

 northward and were no doubt keeping close company with the 

 fur seals." 



Again, Walker says — 



Captain Haynes says that on only one occasion has he seen a large school 

 of killers or thrashers. This was early in June near Unimak Island, where 

 he encountered a remarkable assemblage of various whales, seals, and other 

 life feeding and many killers were present. There was a great deal of 

 fighting accompanied by leaping. 



Turner (1886, p. 198) reported seeing as many as 150 at one 

 time, in the Aleutians. 



Such large aggregation suggest a migration, and, as Walker 

 says, they probably are rare occurrences. 



We frequently found killer whales cruising along the borders 

 of kelp beds. On one occasion, a killer passed directly under our 

 dory — a rather disconcerting experience. We obtained no direct 

 evidence of their food habits, but Turner saw a killer whale kill 

 a nearly full-grown sea lion at Bogoslof Island, and, at Tigalda 

 Island, he watched two killers attacking a large finback whale. 

 He had also seen them following schools of smelt, which suggests a 

 diet including fish. 



