In addition to the familiar species of killer whale, renowned La Jolla-based cetacean expert Dr Robert Pitman believes that two smaller, still-unrecognised species may also exist, inhabiting the chilly oceanic waters around Antarctica and further differentiated by their respective dietary preferences. One feeds primarily upon seals, the other mainly upon Antarctic toothfishes.

Having received a grant of $30,000 from the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration to investigate this mystery, Pitman was planning to return to Antarctica in January 2006 with two fellow researchers in order to tag the dorsal fin of some of these anomalous killer whales with satellite tracking devices to monitor their movements, in particular revealing where they migrate to during the Antarctic winter.