Scientist, responding to killer whale sightings, says marine mammal populations stable in Gulf - al.com

Scientist, responding to killer whale sightings, says marine mammal populations stable in Gulf - al.com: "ORANGE BEACH — This winter, the astonished crew of a charter fishing boat, the Shady Lady, returned from an outing with photos of hundreds of killer whales that they encountered about 90 miles south of their homeport, Zeke's Landing.

The encounter and the buzz it created prompted city officials to invite Mississippi-based marine mammal biologist Keith Mullin to town Wednesday to discuss the Gulf of Mexico's dolphins and whales, said Orange Beach Coastal Resources Manager Phillip West.

If you were one of the 80 or so attendees to hear Mullin's lunchtime talk at Geno's Fresh Catch Grill, you'd have left knowing that melon-headed whales often travel in groups of 400 or more, that dolphins gain one another's attention with a rake of the teeth, and that the Bryde's whale is the Gulf's only baleen whale."