Southern resident orcas


The southern resident orcas, also known as the southern resident killer whales, are the smallest of four communities of the exclusively fish-eating ecotype of orca in the northeast Pacific Ocean. The southern resident orcas form a closed society with no emigration or dispersal of individuals, and no gene flow with other orca populations. The fish-eating ecotype was historically given the name 'resident,' but other ecotypes named 'transient' and 'offshore' are also resident in the same area.
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service listed this distinct population segment of orcas as endangered, effective from 2005, under the Endangered Species Act.
In Canada the SRKW are listed as endangered on Species at Risk Act Schedule 1.
They are commonly referred to as "fish-eating orcas", "southern residents", or the "SRKW population". Unlike some other resident communities, the SRKW is only one clan that consists of 3 pods with several matrilines within each pod. As of the July 1, 2024, annual census conducted by the Center for Whale Research, there were only 73 individuals, down from 75 in the 2023 census. This number, however, does not account for the September 2024 birth of L128, bringing the unofficial number to 74 individuals. Lolita, also known as Tokitae, or as Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut to the Lummi, was captured during the 1970 Penn Cove capture, and died on August 18, 2023, at the Miami Seaquarium.
The world's oldest known orca, Granny or J2, had belonged to and led J pod of the SRKW population. Granny was initially estimated to have been born around 1911, which would mean she would have been 105 years old at the time of her disappearance and death which occurred probably in late 2016. However, this estimate was later revealed to have been based on mistaken information and more recent studies put Granny at 65–80 years old.

Society

Social structure

All groupings in southern resident society are essentially friendly. The basic social unit is the matriline. A matriline is formed by a matriarch and all her descendants of all generations. A number of matrilines form a southern resident pod, which is ongoing and stable in membership, and has its own [|dialect] which is stable over time. A southern resident calf is born into the pod of its mother and remains in it for life. The southern resident pod is their normal traveling unit. The three southern resident pods form the single clan of this small killer whale community. The clan is possibly a single lineage that split into pods in the past. The clan has a unique stable dialect that shares no calls with other killer whale clans.
The following is a listing of southern resident social units:

Community

  • Southern Resident orca community

    Clans

  • J Clan

    Pods

  • J Pod '
  • K Pod '
  • L Pod ''''

    Matrilines


J Pod matrilines

  • J2 "Granny"
  • * J12 "Sissy"
  • ** J24 "Eltanin/Canuck"
  • ** J14 "Samish"
  • *** J23 "Capricorn"
  • *** J30 "Riptide"
  • *** J37 "Hy'Shqa"
  • **** J49 "T'ilem I'nges"
  • **** J59 "Sxwyeqólh"
  • *** J40 "Suttles"
  • *** J43 "Bellatrix"
  • *** J45 "Se-Yi'-Chn"
  • J4 "Mama"
  • * J11 "Blossom"
  • ** J25 "Sheekah"
  • ** J27 "Blackberry"
  • ** J31 "Tsuchi"
  • *** J56 "Tofino"
  • ** J39 "Mako"
  • * J15
  • * J19 "Shachi"
  • ** J29 "Rigel"
  • ** J41 "Eclipse"
  • *** J51 "Nova"
  • *** J58 "Crescent"
  • * J21 "E.T."
  • J7 "Sucia"
  • * J3 "Merlin"
  • * J16 "Slick"
  • ** J26 "Mike"
  • ** J33 "Keet"
  • ** J36 "Alki"
  • *** J52 "Sonic"
  • ** J42 "Echo"
  • ** J48 "Saiph"
  • ** J50 "Scarlet"
  • J9 "Neah"
  • * J5 "Saratoga"
  • ** J13
  • ** J17 "Princess Angeline"
  • *** J28 "Polaris"
  • **** J46 "Star"
  • ***** J60
  • **** J54 "Dipper"
  • *** J35 "Tahlequah"
  • **** J47 "Notch"
  • **** J57 "Phoenix"
  • *** J44 "Moby"
  • *** J53 "Kiki"
  • * J10 "Tahoma"
  • ** J18 "Everett"
  • ** J20 "Ewok"
  • *** J32 "Rhapsody"
  • ** J22 "Oreo"
  • *** J34 "Doublestuf"
  • *** J38 "Cookie"
K Pod matrilines

  • K4 "Morgan"
  • * K12 "Sequim"
  • ** K22 "Sekiu"
  • *** K33 "Tika"
  • *** K41 "Vega"
  • ** K28 "Raven"
  • *** K39 "Corvus"
  • ** K31 "Tatoosh"
  • ** K37 "Rainshadow"
  • ** K43 "Saturna"
  • K8 "Tumwater"
  • * K5 "Sealth"
  • * K3 "Sounder"
  • ** K15
  • ** K14 "Lea"
  • *** K23 "Alnair"
  • *** K24 "Delphinus"
  • *** K26 "Lobo"
  • *** K36 "Yoda"
  • *** K42 "Kelp"
  • ** K16 "Opus"
  • *** K32 "Zube"
  • *** K35 "Sonata"
  • ** K29 "Sigurd"
  • K11 "Georgia"
  • * K13 "Skagit"
  • ** K20 "Spock"
  • *** K38 "Comet"
  • *** K45 "Prosper"
  • ** K25 "Scoter"
  • ** K27 "Deadhead"
  • *** K44 "Ripple"
  • ** K34 "Cali"
L Pod matrilines

  • L2 "Grace"
  • * L39 "Orcan"
  • * L67 "Splash"
  • ** L98 "Luna/Tsux'iit"
  • ** L101 "Aurora"
  • * L78 "Gaia"
  • * L88 "Wavewalker"
  • L4 "Sonar"
  • * L27 "Ophelia"
  • ** L62 "Cetus"
  • ** L68 "Elwha"
  • ** L80 "Odessa"
  • ** L92 "Nerka"
  • * L61 "Astral"
  • * L55 "Nugget"
  • ** L82 "Kasatka"
  • *** L116 "Finn"
  • ** L96 "Bernardo"
  • ** L103 "Lapis"
  • *** L123 "Lazuli"
  • ** L109 "Takoda"
  • ** L118 "Jade"
  • * L86 "Surprise"
  • ** L106 "Pooka"
  • ** L112 "Sooke"
  • ** L120 "Altair"
  • ** L125 "Element"
  • L12 "Alexis"
  • * L11 "Squirty"
  • ** L42 "Mozart"
  • ** L41 "Mega"
  • ** L64 "Radar"
  • ** L77 "Matia"
  • *** L114 "Capella"
  • *** L119 "Joy"
  • **** L126 "Ken"
  • *** L124 "Whistle"
  • ** L94 "Calypso"
  • *** L113 "Cousteau"
  • *** L121 "Windsong"
  • *** L127 "Scuba"
  • L21 "Ankh"
  • * L47 "Marina"
  • ** L83 "Moonlight"
  • *** L110 "Midnight"
  • ** L91 "Muncher"
  • *** L122 "Magic"
  • ** L99 "Gamma"
  • ** L102 "Kappa"
  • ** L107 "Lamda"
  • ** L111 "Testudo"
  • ** L115 "Mystic"
  • L25 "Ocean Sun"
  • * L23 "Tsunami"
  • ** L14 "Cordy"
  • ** L49 "Tarazed"
  • * "Tokitae / Lolita"
  • L26 "Baba"
  • * L60 "Rascal"
  • ** L81 "Raina"
  • ** L92 "Crewser"
  • * L52 "Salish"
  • * L71 "Hugo"
  • * L90 "Ballena"
  • ** L128
  • L32 "Olympia"
  • * L22 "Spirit"
  • ** L75 "Panda"
  • ** L79 "Skana"
  • ** L89 "Solstice"
  • * L44 "Leo"
  • * L56 "Disney"
  • * L63 "Scotia"
  • * L87 "Onyx"
  • L35 "Victoria"
  • * L1 "Oskar"
  • * L50 "Shala"
  • * L54 "Ino"
  • ** L100 "Indigo"
  • ** L108 "Coho"
  • ** L117 "Keta"
  • * L65 "Aquarius"
  • L37 "Kimo"
  • * L7 "Canuck"
  • ** L53 "Lulu"
  • ** L76 "Mowgli"
  • * L43 "Jellyroll"
  • ** L72 "Racer"
  • *** L105 "Fluke"
  • ** L95 "Nigel"
  • ** L104 "Domino"

Note that in several matrilines the matriarch is absent because deceased; nonetheless her descendants continue to associate as a group. Date of census is July 1, 2024.
J11s: J27 'Blackberry', J31 'Tsuchi', J39 'Mako', J56 'Tofino'
J14s: J37 'Hy'Shqa', J40 'Suttles', J45 'Se-Yi-Chn', J49 'T'ilem I'nges', J59 'Sxwyeqόlh'
J16s: J16 'Slick', J26 'Mike', J36 'Alki', J42 'Echo'
J17s: J35 'Tahlequah', J44 'Moby', J46 'Star', J47 'Notch', J53 'Kiki', J57 'Phoenix'
J19s: J19 'Shachi', J41 'Eclipse', J51 'Nova', J58 'Crescent'
J22s: J22 'Oreo', J38 'Cookie'
K12s: K12 'Sequim', K22 'Sekiu', K33 'Tika', K37 'Rainshadow', K43 'Saturna'
K13s: K20 'Spock', K27 'Deadhead', K38 'Comet', K45 'Prosper'
K14s: K14 'Lea', K26 'Lobo', K36 'Yoda', K42 'Kelp'
K16s: K16 'Opus', K35 'Sonata'
L4s: L55 'Nugget', L82 'Kasatka', L86 'Surprise', L103 'Lapis', L106 'Pooka', L109 'Takoda', L116 'Finn', L118 'Jade', L123 'Lazuli', L125 'Element'
L11s: L77 'Matia', L94 'Calypso', L113 'Cousteau', L119 'Joy', L121 'Windsong', L124 'Whistle', L126 'Ken', L127 'Scuba'
L22s: L22 'Spirit', L87 'Onyx'
L25: L25 'Ocean Sun', the oldest southern resident, has no surviving close relatives since the death of captive Tokitae, aka Lolita, who was probably a member of her matriline. L25 travels with the L22s and L11s.
L47s: L83 'Moonlight', L91 'Muncher', L110 'Midnight', L115 'Mystic', L122 'Magic'
L54s: L54 'Ino', L108 'Coho', L117 'Keta', plus unrelated L88 'Wavewalker' who is an adult male born in 1993 with no living close relatives and always travels with the L54s.
L72s: L72 'Racer', L105 'Fluke'
L90s: L90 'Ballena', L128

Splitting in L Pod

While J Pod always travels as a unit, and so does K Pod, L Pod orcas are usually encountered in two separate regular units traveling apart. The L4s, L47s, L90, and L72s are one consistent group; the L11s, L22s, L25, and L54s are the other; but sometimes the four L54s strikingly travel independently of all the others. The part of L Pod containing the L11s is often referred to as the L12s after long-lived matriarch L12 Alexis, who died in 2012 after outliving L11 Squirty. L11 had been estimated by association to be L12's daughter, although her birth took place many years before research began.

Social system research

Current knowledge of the society

The closed society of the southern resident orcas has exceptionally stable social groupings, and they have been encountered with some predictability in the easily accessible, sheltered coastal waters of the Salish Sea, where scientists have been able to study them more readily than many other cetacean populations. There are no unidentified orcas in these waters, and every individual's place in their society is known. Continuous field studies since Michael Bigg's in 1973 have created a near-complete genealogy of the living Southern Residents, with only one individual born prior to the 1970s remaining alive as of August 2023: L25 Ocean Sun.
"The social lives of resident killer whales are without doubt as rich and complex as those of the most advanced land mammals." The lifelong bonds within a matriline are the most significant feature of the [|Southern Residents' social structure]. The basic rule is that individuals remain, for life, in the pod into which they were born and to which they are tied by dialect. By 1990, Michael Bigg and fellow researchers had come to that conclusion, and there has been no fundamental change in the Southern Resident social system documented since then.