Puget Sound's killer whales tend to show no respect for international boundaries once they are hungry, and it has long been revealed that their favorite prey of the Chinook salmon. But now, using genetic tests on the orcas' feces, in addition to fish tissue and scales picked up from the waters where the whales are often found feasting, scientists have claimed that about 90% of the Chinook these fish end up consuming are from Canada's Fraser River.

Although many do not consider dietary habits of killer whales a big deal, the orcas and some salmon species are actually protected heavily on both sides of the boarder. With what is happening, the efforts to try and revive endangered species that share the same ecosystem could be intertwined.

"It is fascinating the whales specialize in a particular species, and the species they focus on is one of the rarer ones and in some case protected. Recovery of the whales could be dependent on the recovery of salmon. It is all related", shared Michael Ford, the Director of the Conservation Biology Division at the National Marine Fisheries Science Centre in Seattle.

As many as 9 populations of Chinook are listed as endangered, and killer whales are an endangered species as well.