Southern Resident Orcas

HOW TO SPOT

To spot southern residents:

1. Look for their distinctive black dorsal fins. Male dorsal fins can be as tall as six feet, while female dorsal fins are  2 to 3 feet high.
2. Watch for their blows, which are low and bushy compared to baleen whales.
3. Look for splashing, or disturbance on the surface of the water. A breaching orca makes a huge splash!

• Note the size of the group – resident orcas typically travel in large family groups, while Bigg’s family groups are smaller.
• Diet and Behaviors. Resident orcas are opportunistic fish-eaters. Bigg’s (transient) orcas are mammal-eaters, whose prey typically includes seals, sea lions and porpoises.

WHEN AND WHERE TO SEE

During summer and early fall, look for southern residents from Whale Trail sites in the San Juan and Gulf Islands. In fall and winter, the southern residents return to central Puget Sound, following winter salmon runs. Watch for them at Whale Trail sites from Port Townsend to Tacoma. Year-round, you might see them from shore at spots along the Pacific Coast, from Uclulet to Monterey Bay.

RANGE

Southern resident orcas travel as far south as Monterey Bay, and as far north as mid-Vancouver Island, with occasional forays around the north end of Vancouver Island. They depend on salmon from the Sacramento, Klamath, Columbia/Snake, and Fraser River systems, and the whole of Puget Sound. The inland waters of the Salish Sea are a critical part of their historical range.

During spring and summer, all three pods typically return to Haro and Georgia Straits, around the San Juan and Gulf Islands. In fall and winter they return to central Puget Sound, between Port Townsend and Tacoma, following chum salmon runs.

• Compared to the other pods, L pod travels the farthest, and is more likely to be seen at the southern- and northernmost ends of their range.
• J pod spends comparatively more time in the Salish Sea, sometimes circumnavigating Texada Island.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Southern Resident Killer Whales live in tightly bonded family groups called pods, organized around the mothers. Sons and daughters stay with their mothers, who stays with her mother, and so on.  The southern resident community consists of three pods, J, K and L pods. Each pod consists of matrilines, or family groups related through their mothers.

Southern residents received their name based on their range which includes the southern end of Vancouver Island. Another population of resident orcas, the northern residents, live around the north end of Vancouver Island, and so became known as northern residents. While their social structure, diet and behaviors are very similar to southern residents, the populations are genetically distinct, and are not related to each other.

Orcas are acoustic animals who rely on echolocation to find and catch their prey, and a complex system of social calls to communicate with each other. Some calls are shared across pods, and some are shared only with pods. Each pod has a distinct call, made only by that pod. The calls are learned and culturally transmitted between generations. Orca echolocation and communication calls can travel for over 10 miles underwater.

DIET

Southern residents are opportunistic fish-eaters. Studies show that they prefer Chinook salmon, and will dive deeper and expend more energy to catch it. However they also eat many other kinds of salmon, and fish. Prey samples analyzed by NOAA showed scales of 47 different fish species, including halibut, cod and skate. The only scales they never find are from pink (humpy) salmon. No matter how many pink salmon are around, the southern residents leave them alone!

• Orcas need to eat around 200-300 pounds (kg) of fish each day, which is around 4% of their overall body weight.

Prey-Sharing. Like other orcas, resident orcas share their prey. DFO studies found that mothers share prey with their offspring, until a daughter has a calf of her own. Older males share food with their mothers. Sometimes, orcas share prey with members of other pods.

• In 2002, when Springer was first returned to Johnstone Strait, a brother and sister from another pod were seen sharing their food with her.

BEHAVIOR

Like other cetaceans, orcas exhibit a wide range of behaviors, like breaching, spyhopping, porpoising, tail-lobbing and resting. They also share a unique behavior called kelping.

Breaching. When an orca leaps fully out of the water, often making a spectacular splash when it falls back in.

Spyhopping. When an orca lifts it head above the surface, and has a look around. Though sound is the main way they navigate and communicate, An orca’s eyesight is as good as a human’s!

Porpoising. When orcas swim rapidly at the surface of the water. In short burts, orcas are faster than cheetahs!

Kelping. Resident orcas often play with kelp as they swim through giant kelp beds around the Pacific Northwest. This behavior has been observed so often that it’s come to be known as kelping.

Tail Lobbing. When orcas slap their tails against the surface of the water, creating a percussive sound that can be heard for miles. This behavior is called tail-lobbing.

Pec Slap. When orcas slap their pectoral fins against the water.

Resting Line. When orcas rest, they often line up side by side, in a formation known as a resting line. Like other cetaceans, they are conscious breathers and must stay awake to breathe. Though they rest, they never fall fully asleep like humans.

Greeting Ceremony. When orca pods meet up, they often form lines and move towards each other. A group already in an area will greet the incoming pod(s).

Superpod. When one or more pods come together. They may stay in the larger group for days, traveling, socializing, foraging and mating.

STATUS

The Southern Resident Killer Whale population is listed as an endangered species in the United States and Canada. The population has been in steep decline since the 1998, nearing their historical low of 71 individuals. NOAA’s recovery goal is for the population to grow by 2.5% per year, or a net addition of one individual each year for the next 20 years.

The population currently consists of 74 whales. There are 11 calves under six years old, and seven of those are female. The future of the population is here! Our challenge is to create the conditions that will allow these calves to survive and thrive into adulthood.

CURRENT AND HISTORICAL THREATS

Historical Threats. Southern residents were sometimes hunted – not as prey, but because they were seen as nuisances, or competition for salmon.

Capture Era. Between 1964 and 1976, more than 60 orcas were captured in Pacific Northwest waters, and sent to marine parks and aquariums all over the world. By the time the captures were stopped in 1976, nearly half of the southern resident population had been removed, including most of the calves. The captures created a generational gap in the population and is one of the reasons the southern residents are endangered today.

When the captures were stopped, the southern resident population consisted of 71 whales. Over the next 25 years their numbers increased, to a high of 98 whales in 1996. In the late 1990s the populations started to decline again. By 2005 the population was listed as an endangered species in Canada and the U.S.  Wiles et al (DFW 2004) predicted that if the current trends continued or worsened, the population could go extinct in less than 100 years.

Current Threats. Southern resident orcas have been brought to the end of extinction by threats that are all human-caused: lack of prey, toxin accumulations, and vessel noise and disturbance. The threats are connected, each worsening the other.

• Orcas are the top predator in the sea. Toxins bioaccumulate and are stored in their blubber and mother’s milk.
• When orcas are stressed and hungry, toxins are released into their bloodstream, and make them more susceptible to disease.
• Boat noise and disturbance makes it hard for orcas to find and catch their prey, with makes them stressed and hungry…and so it goes.

Resident orcas rely heavily on salmon, specifically Chinook salmon, which have been declining for years throughout their range. Orcas depend on salmon that comes from the Sacramento, Klamath, Snake/Columbia and Fraser River, and the whole of Puget Sound. Prey abundance is impacted by habitat, hatcheries, hydropower, harvest, predation, and forest fish.

Orcas are acoustic animals. Vessel noise and disturbance make it harder for the whales to forage, rest and socialize. Recent NOAA studies show that all southern residents are 50% less successful at foraging when any vessel approaches closer than 1600 yards, and the impacts are more harmful for females. Female southern residents abandon prey when any vessel approaches closer than 400 yards.

Orca and all marine mammals are affected by the high levels of environmental pollutants, such as PCB’s and flame retardants. These effects cause issues within the immune and reproductive systems and toxins are transferred from mother to offspring. An oil spill in the Salish Sea would be detrimental to this population.

Climate change and population growth are new and emerging stressors for the orcas and their prey. Visit orca.wa.gov to learn more.

RESOURCES