Salish Sea orcas

Southern resident orcas.

The waters of the Salish Sea, on the west coast of North America, are home to several ecologically different populations of orcas (Orcinus orca). Primarily found in these nearshore waters are three major ecotypes: northern residents, southern residents, and transients. A fourth population, the offshore orcas, occasionally venture into nearshore waters as well. The different ecotypes are so named due to the fact that little direct interaction occurs between them; neither resident nor transient orcas have been observed to interbreed with one another, though occasional brief interactions do occur.

Widely studied since the 1960s, the orcas of the Salish Sea region have become icons of cetacean research and identification. According to John KB Ford, Graeme B Ellis, and Kenneth C Balcomb, the resident orcas represent "The most intensively studied population of marine mammals in the world." The frequency of sightings of orcas in the Sound region, combined with their prominent place in the ecosystem and their charisma, have made them icons of the region, and their likeness features prominently in Native American culture in the Northwest. Additionally, they are one of the main interests of the many whale watching industries that have sprung up in the region.

Overview

Southern resident orcas

Southern residents from pod J.

The primary range of the southern resident orcas stretches from approximately the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the south coast of Vancouver Island to the Tacoma Narrows and occasionally Hood Canal, with seasonal ranges encompassing the Pacific coast from British Columbia to Monterey Bay. The current estimated population size, as of October 2023, is 75 individuals, having recovered from a low of 73 with two recent births. Primarily separated into three pods, J, K, and L, all individuals of the southern resident population are considered part of a single clan (descended from a single bloodline). The primary distinguishing factor between the southern and northern resident orcas is not linked to appearance; it primarily revolves around their matriarchal status, with males descended from living mothers doing more hunting than males without living mothers in southern residents. The three orca pods, J, K, and L, are all part of a single clan and therefore share one lineage.

In 1973, a British-Canadian scientist, Michael Bigg, who was studying northern resident orcas in the Georgia Strait, found that minor injuries such as dents in the dorsal fins (in the initial case, he took a plug of flesh from the dorsal fin himself) did not fully heal over time, and remained prominent on the individual for the rest of their lives. This led to the use of specific tiny marks in each whale's skin to identify them individually, and continues to be the prime method of identification in the wild. Primarily, resident orcas can be identified as belonging to either the northern or southern resident groups by their individual scars and marks. Additionally, their distribution during the breeding season, which is mostly during the summer months, can be used to distinguish the two resident groups from one another. This, along with charting the distribution of each group of orcas during summer and winter seasons, is the most prominent way of recognizing both individual orcas and the stock to which they belong. Both residents and transients are catalogued in this way, and both the Canadian Department of Fisheries and the Center for Whale Research use this to keep track of all individual orcas within the Salish Sea. As of 2023, all 73 known southern residents, 310 northern residents, and 349 Bigg's orcas have been catalogued in this way in British Columbia and Washington combined. In BC, cataloging orcas is primarily done by the provincial government, while in Washington, the NGO nonprofit Center for Whale Research primarily does the cataloging.

Both resident groups of orcas are known for having a more rounded and straight, somewhat slanted towards the back, upward-facing dorsal fin compared to transients, which have a more pointed, sharklike fin going straight up, and a more prominent, grayish "cape" on their backs. The eyespot of residents is primarily smaller than transients, and is more level with the body, having an upward slant near its rear edge. Differences in body size cannot be determined visually; overall however, residents are smaller than transients, with southern residents being the smallest of the three ecotypes.

Southern resident orcas chasing chinook salmon (bottom center.

Southern resident orcas feed exclusively on fish, with salmon being their preferred prey; it is estimated that up to 80% of the diet of southern residents consists of chinook salmon, mostly coming from the Fraser River. Other types of salmon, herring, halibut, and lingcod are also consumed. While there is no record of southern resident orcas eating harbor porpoises, at least 78 incidents have been recorded since 1962 involving orcas harassing and hitting harbor porpoises, of which 28 resulted in the porpoise's death; it has never been confirmed whether this is an example of reducing competition for food, rough playing, or actual aggression.

The primary reason for the failure to increase among southern residents orcas as well as the overall perilous state of their population, is their low reproductive rates, as the orca is notorious for its slow reproductive rate. Females do not mature until they are 10 to 13 years old, and gestation is approximately 15 months. With the female maintaining care for her calf until it is two years old, orcas effectively are able to produce a calf only once every 39 months, and thus cannot recover quickly from population depression. Inbreeding also has a negative effect on the population. The total mortality level in young of the year orcas can be as high as 43% in some cases.

Northern resident orcas

Northern resident A73 "Springer" and second calf "Storm".

The larger population of northern residents primarily ranges from the mid-coast of Alaska south into British Columbia through the Strait of Georgia and both sides of Vancouver Island south to Gray's Harbor, with the bulk of their range encompassing the Strait of Georgia and most of Vancouver Island, and north to Haida Gwaii. The northern residents number over 300 whales, with the majority of their seasons spent between Chatham Sound in summer and spend fall in Johnstone Strait and winter in the San Juan Islands, respectively. Northern resident orcas are divided into a total of three clans, totaling 16 pods, which is highly indicative of higher genetic diversity compared with the southern residents. As with southern residents, northern residents subside mostly on salmon, with chinook again being the primary diet. However, northern residents are known to have different hunting techniques that may have assisted in their recovery compared to southern residents. In northern residents, females do most of the herding and hunting of salmon, whereas in southern residents, males do most of the hunting. It has been found that female southern residents do not actively forage when nursing calves, so males must hunt in their place; in northern residents, females continue to hunt even when nursing calves. It is believed that the lack of females available for foraging reduces the amount of necessary cooperation needed to catch food, and thus deprives the orcas of valuable foraging experience.

There is no concrete way to tell northern residents apart from southern residents physically, aside from individual markings and scratches, which individuals in both groups may have. The calls of both northern and southern residents closely resemble one another, as do overall body shapes, and life history can be assumed to be similar for both types. The only primary way of determining which orca belongs to which group focuses primarily on their distribution; only southern residents are known to enter Puget Sound and the Whidbey Island area, and are the primary species found within the San Juan Islands and the southern part of Vancouver Island; whereas northern residents do not usually leave the Strait of Georgia or Johnstone Strait; that said, both types can inhabit the San Juan Islands and southern residents occasionally enter BC waters, so in the end, individual and pod identification are the only clear ways of telling the difference between members of the northern and southern residents pods. No known direct interactions between members of the northern and southern resident pods have been known to occur.

Transient orcas

Transient orcas off the coast of Tofino, British Columbia.

Little is known about the bloodlines and pods of transient orcas, popularly known as Bigg's orcas, and unlike residents, much less identification via photo-ID has been conducted, largely due to them never sticking in one place for an extended period of time and less knowledge of overall pod structure compared to residents. Nevertheless, transients have been identified in increasing numbers over the years, and like residents, can be identified individually due to marks and scars on their bodies. Known for their more shark-like fins, large size, solid gray patches, and larger eyespots, transient orcas are found throughout the Salish Sea region, which is perhaps the bulk of their overall occurrence. Their primary calls, which differ from residents, are composed of a series of click-like vocalizations and harsh, screaming sounds primarily used to frighten and trap prey when hunting. The primary diet of transient orcas includes harbor seals, Steller sea lions, harbor porpoises, Dall's porpoises, Pacific white-sided dolphins, and minke whales. Among these, the harbor seal is the most commonly taken prey; one survey estimated that more than half of the diet of transients in the Salish Sea region consists of harbor seals. Attacks on large whales in the region are relatively rare; some isolated incidents of transients harassing gray whales and humpback whales sometimes occur and observed predation has been observed many times in areas outside the Salish Sea, but no incidents of successful predation have been observed. However, interactions do sometimes become spectacular; in October 2022, a rare battle near Vancouver was observed between a pod of transients and humpbacks that eventually ended with the group disappearing into the fog, with the ultimate outcome unknown for both parties.

Having split from other orcas 750,000 years ago, no interbreeding occurs between transient and resident orcas. Interactions between transients and residents are very rare; they actively avoid one another and are never known to socialize. Nevertheless, when interactions do occur, it seems the residents, despite being smaller and less carnivorous, dominate the transients. In 2021, southern residents K16 and L72 surfaced in the midst of a pod of transient pod's hunt of an unknown prey species. After a short scuffle, the transients left the area at top speed, leaving the area to the residents. A similar but more brutal encounter was recorded in 1993, when transients were attacked by members of the J-pod and forced almost onto the rocks at Nanaimo. After a battle that lasted for at least several minutes, the transients fled the area with scars, leaving the victorious residents to regroup.

Transient orca harassed by dolphins, Johnstone Strait.

Offshore orcas

Offshore orcas, first described in 1979, are primarily found more than 10 miles (16 km) offshore. Just over 280 offshore orcas are known from the Eastern North Pacific, primarily occurring off the coast of British Columbia. Although forays into the Salish Sea are rare, the area immediately offshore, including the Barkley submarine canyon, is home to large numbers of the offshore version. In contrast to transient and resident orcas, the teeth of offshore orcas are usually quite worn-down and often blunt; this has been confirmed to be linked to their primary diet - sharks - and the tough skin they possess, making their lives potentially shorter as a result. The sharks most commonly taken are mako, thresher, sevengill, and on rare occasions, great white sharks. The first recorded incidence of orca predation on great white sharks, in 1997, may have involved an offshore whale.

Human history

The first known interactions between Salish Sea orcas and humans occurred in the early 1960s, when fishermen in Seymour Narrows, near Campbell River, BC, began to complain of orcas taking salmon from nets and interfering with fishing operations. At the time, orcas were not only viewed as costly competition with fishermen for salmon, but as dangerous and threatening to humans as well, and were viewed negatively across the region. In response to these complaints, a machine gun was installed at Seymour Narrows with the intent of killing any orca that passed by. The gun was never fired and removed after a few months, but was representative of the negative view of orcas which persisted for years afterward. Despite their reputation as vicious man-eaters, fascination with them led to many wanting to see them close-up, alive or dead, to understand more about what at the time was a largely unknown creature. In 1964, Vancouver Aquarium curator Murray Newman requested the harpooning of an orca to act as a template for a life-sized sculpture that would greet museum visitors. A team led by Sam Burich and Ronald Sparrow were sent out to capture an orca. On July 16, 1964, a pod was sighted and one of the whales was harpooned, but it didn't die as expected. Not wishing to seem inhumane, Newman instructed the team not to kill the whale but instead tow it to a netted-off area at Burrard Dry Dock near the Vancouver Aquarium. While the initial motive in keeping the whale was to provide a template for the sculpture and present scientists with a unique opportunity to study a little-known creature, the aquarium soon became overwhelmed with visitors eager to see an orca for the first time. Within weeks, the whale had become a national interest, and was given the name Moby Doll. By now, the whale was marketed as a public attraction and began to spark interest in other aquariums for catching orcas. Moby Doll ultimately did not last for long, and died October 9, 1964, from an illness caused by the low water salinity at Burrard Dry Dock and complications from his harpoon wounds.

Undeterred by the short life of Moby Doll, others soon set out to capture orcas from the Puget Sound region. The first, and most famous, was in fact accidental. In June 1965, a large bull orca became trapped in a salmon net near Namu, BC, and was sold to animal collector Ted Griffin for $8000. Naming the whale Namu after its place of capture, Griffin had it put in the care of the Seattle Marine Aquarium, which he owned at the time. For over a year Namu entertained millions, even starring in a film named after him, and was a pace-setter in the field of orca captures, with dozens of aquariums from this point on undertaking orca captures, intending to replicate the success of Namu. It was during this time that a female orca named Shamu was captured from Puget Sound and intended to be a potential mate for Namu, but the two did not get along and Shamu was sent to SeaWorld San Diego in late 1965, beginning a tradition of keeping orcas at SeaWorld that continues to this day. Namu died in July 1966; it was initially believed that he had drowned after trying a "freedom break" to get out of his pen, but a subsequent autopsy revealed that he died of a bacterial infection caused by sewage runoff into Elliott Bay.

Subsequently, orca captures became widespread worldwide; an estimated 263 orcas were captured in the Salish Sea region alone between 1962 and 1977. Of these, 50 were taken to oceanariums, 12 died during capture, and 201 were ultimately released without being taken anywhere. While the fact that the majority were released is in itself positive, the impact on local populations was magnified in that 47 of the 62 captured or killed orcas were southern residents, which corresponded to more than half the entire southern resident population. Many believe the failure of the southern residents to increase over the past few decades has been linked to the loss of genetic diversity resulting from the 1960s captures. The fact that all three pods (J, K, L) interbreed and interact regularly additionally creates a problem for the survivors, as no pod maintains its historical diversity due to the captures of key individuals. In 1970, the notorious Penn Cove capture resulted in the deaths of five calves and the capture of seven more, including the female Lolita (Tokitae) who died in 2023 after 53 years in captivity. The brutality of the event led to a permit system being levied by Washington state in 1971, to control the amount of orcas that could be herded. This was soon superseded by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which forbade the killing or harassment of any marine mammal, and since capturing whales was regarded as harassment under the Act, orca captures essentially came to an end following the Act's passage.

Southern residents, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.

However, there did remain an exemption clause: an economic hardship clause that SeaWorld continued to exploit as a means of continuing orca capture operations. Until 1976 in Washington and 1977 in BC, SeaWorld carried out small-scale captures of whales in Salish Sea waters. Even these would soon come to an end when a particularly cruel attempt at capture was observed by Ralph Monroe, an aid to Governor Dan Evans, observed the orcas in distress and stopped the capture. Upon further investigation, Monroe phoned Governor Evans, who filed a federal restraining order against, SeaWorld, forbidding them from taking any whales to their location. After a legal battle, the state won, and all orca captures in Washington came to an end. Those in BC came to an end a year later, in 1977. Orca captures in other areas such as Iceland continued well into the 1980s.

The modern studies of orca behavior and social life in the Salish Sea first came to the public eye in the early 1970s with the works of Mike Bigg. At the same time he developed the technique of identifying individual whales via their scars and body patterns, but by their habits and the others they associated themselves with. Bigg was the first to identify transient orcas as completely different in eating habits, behavior, and distribution than resident orcas which is why they bear his name. His recommendation in the late 1970s that orcas be placed on the endangered list in Canada served as a pace-settler for orca conservation, and fueled interest in protecting the animals throughout the region. The first sanctuary specifically designed to protect cetaceans was established in 1982 in Robson Bight, part of Johnstone Strait, and was dedicated in honor of Bigg. Prior to his death in 1990, Bigg had lobbied for the inclusion of orcas on the Canadian threatened list, and while he never lived to see them listed, four of the five known populations in Canada, including the northern residents, were listed as "At Risk" in 2001. In 2008, Johnstone Strait and southeastern Queen Charlotte Strait were designated as critical habitat for northern resident orcas. Likewise, NOAA designated all of Puget Sound and the Juan de Fuca Strait as southern resident orca critical habitat in 2006, and updated it in 2021 to include all coastal waters of the Northwest from Cape Flattery to Monterey Bay.

Threats to orcas in the modern world include ship traffic, pollution, dams, and arguably most important, conflict with humans for food. Since the 1980s, salmon populations in Puget Sound have declined by 60%, and hatcheries have made only marginal success in helping them recover. The primary food source of southern residents is Fraser River salmon, which provide over 70% of all salmon that run in the system. While Fraser River salmon as a whole are not currently endangered, chinook - which provide more than three-quarters of the diet of southern residents - have declined by more than half in the last decades, largely due to hatchery mismanagement, botched recovery plans, and an industry-based approach to solving environmental problems. The Skagit, Snohomish, and Puyallup chinook runs are also gravely depleted, and as of the last major 5-year salmon recovery plan (2016), all chinook salmon populations in the Puget Sound drainage system are currently listed as below recovery escape levels (that is, the level at which the population can be considered on the road to recovery). The Fraser salmon fare little better; 14 of 16 stocks of chinook that spawn in the Fraser are listed as threatened or endangered by Canada's Species At Risk Act, so in total, only two potential stocks of chinook with a home range including Puget Sound are at a viable population size.

Since the 1980s, Salish Sea orcas have become icons of the wild nature of the region and an emblem of the charismatic megafauna of Puget Sound, and a reminder that the region's nature is precious and worth saving. In the forty years since the Johnstone Strait was first declared protected in 1982, almost the entire Johnstone Strait-Georgia Strait region, as well as Puget Sound and most of the strait of Juan de Fuca, has been declared critical orca habitat. While symbolically a major victory, the level of human impacts on the whales have largely continued despite the designation, as it has no legal basis to regulate human activity in the whales' range. Equally worrying is the high list of toxic chemicals the orcas have accumulated in their bloodstream over years of living in industrially-polluted waters. Most notorious of these are PCBs, which may be responsible for deformities resulting in miscarriages and stillbirths as documented in Tahlequah's calf in 2018. Additionally, it has recently been revealed that southern residents contain large amounts of 4NP, a toxic chemical used in pulp and paper production, that when ingested, stay in the whales' systems for life, and can even pass from mothers to calves during gestation. In 2008, the first recovery plan for the southern residents was released by NOAA, which constituted an overview of the life history of the population as well as their prospects for recovery. The main factors identified as inhibiting the recovery of the orcas were: sonar activities caused by naval exercises, collisions with ships transiting through orca habitat, growth and developmental problems caused by chemical ingestion, and foremost, loss of salmon caused by degradation of salmon streams. The updated recovery plan in 2016-2020 stated the primary threats to orcas as two sources: negative interactions with vessels and depletion of their food sources (salmon), along with minor threats including protection of orca health, habitat, and conservation through outreach. While most of the aspects of this plan are based on solid ground and it has the potential to make an impact, as of 2024, no significant progress has been made on restoring the salmon runs of Puget Sound or the Fraser River. Added to this is the lack of speed limits or shipping lanes to ensure boating and shipping traffic does not collide with orcas. While the current southern resident population appears to have stabilized with the birth of a new calf and the death of male K34 in 2023, leaving it at 74 individuals, little progress on recovery can be expected until the recovery plan set by NOAA is 2016 is firmly implemented, with the primary focus being restoration of salmon runs.

Individual whales

Luna

Luna was a male orca from the southern resident L pod, and was known to identifiers as L98. Known for his inquisitive and friendly nature, he took up residence in Nootka Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, he was separated from his pod in 2001 (a year in which five members of the pod died) and lived on his own in the Sound for almost five years. His increasing friendliness to humans and desire to interact with boats caused concern, and the Canadian DFO attempted to form a committee to remove him and take him back to his pod, but this was dropped after opposition from locals. In March 2006, after getting too close to a tugboat whose crew he knew and frequently interacted with, he was sucked into the propeller vortex and was killed.

Springer

Springer in 2002, as a calf.

Springer is a female northern resident from the A pod, official name A73, and was found as a calf in Seattle's Elliott Bay in January 2002. It is considered highly unusual for northern resident orcas to enter Puget Sound, as this is primarily the domain of the southern residents. After the calf continued to stay in the area for several months, displaying highly uncharacteristic behaviors including rubbing against boats and following any traffic that entered her area, along with declining physical health, the decision was made to catch her and transport her to a sea pen, where she was raised for a month. Originally this was intended to be 1–2 years, as it was believed she would have to be brought up to BC to see her pod, but when her family was detected in Johnstone Strait in July, and she appeared to be in good health, she was taken up to Campbell River and released into her pod, who welcomed her. She has since given birth to two healthy calves.

Lolita (Tokitae)

Lolita performing at Miami Seaquarium.

Lolita was a southern resident of the L pod, captured in Penn Cove in 1970, and spent the majority of her life at Miami Seaquarium in Florida. At the time of her death in 2023, she was the last remaining captive orca from the 1960s-1970s Washington captures prior to the implementation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. With five decades of captivity having taken their toll, she was in the process of succumbing to skin lesions, with a chronic lung infection continuing to weaken her body. Since the death of Hugo, a male orca captured with her, in 1980, Lolita had been the only orca at Miami Seaquarium, though she did share her tank with common dolphins, pilot whales, and Pacific white- sided dolphins throughout her time at Seaquarium. The failure to release Lolita, as well as her overall living standards before her passing, have become an iconic symbol of the plight of captive orcas.

Granny

Granny in 2011.

Granny (southern resident J2) was the oldest fully authenticated wild orca on record, with an age of at least 65 years at the time of her presumed death in October 2016. Her exact age will never be known; she was first sighted in 1967, during an orca capture, and was considered too old for capture due to her age (estimated at more than 40, due to her being judged too old to bear calves). A later sighting of her in 1971 seemed to confirm that she had borne calves, with the male accompanying her (J1 Ruffles) seeming to be her son, though this was later suggested as false. Her age was initially estimated at 105 at the time of her death, due to her being thought to have been born in 1911, though with the revelation that J1 was not her calf, and a biopsy sample taken in 2016 just before her death, her actual age was estimated at 65–80 years old.

In popular culture

Boaters watching northern resident orca in Johnstone Strait.

Since the 1980s, when the plight of the whales due to human actions attracted the attention of residents throughout the Northwest, the Salish Sea orcas have become an iconic natural treasure of the region and a symbol of the productiveness of the area. Many whale watching organizations throughout the region target the orcas, including both residents and transients, and often work with nonprofit organizations like the Center for Whale Research and The Whale Museum to conserve the orcas. Native American tribes throughout the area hold the whales in high regard. The Lummi Nation in particular has been outspoken in its relationship with the animals. Within the tribe the orca is regarded as intrinsic relatives, some considering them the reincarnated spirits of chiefs, and in particular, they were instrumental in the ultimately unsuccessful attempt to bring Lolita back from Miami Seaquarium back to Puget Sound. The Tulalip tribe of Everett also hold orcas in high regard, with the animal often displayed on totem poles and artwork designs, and is the official mascot of the Tulalip Casino and Resort.

Bull orca approaching boat, Victoria, BC, Canada.

Orca totem pole, Alert Bay, BC.

See also

• Orca types and populations
• List of cetaceans

Further reading

• Ford, John K. B. (2002). "Killer Whale". Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press. pp. 669–675. ISBN 0-12-551340-2.
• Ford, John K. B.; Ellis, Graeme M.; Balcomb, Kenneth C. (2000). Killer Whales (Second ed.). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-0800-2.
• Ford, John K. B.; Ellis, Graeme M. (2006). "Selective foraging by fish-eating killer whales Orcinus orca in British Columbia". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 316: 185–199. Bibcode:2006MEPS..316..185F. doi:10.3354/meps316185.
• Francis, Daniel; Hewlett, Gil (2007). Operation Orca: Springer, Luna and the Struggle to Save West Coast Killer Whales. Madeira Park, B.C.: Harbour Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55017-426-7.
• Heimlich, Sara; Boran, James (2001). Killer Whales. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-89658-545-4.
• Obee, Bruce; Ellis, Graeme (1992). Elaine Jones (ed.). Guardians of the Whales: The Quest to Study Whales in the Wild. North Vancouver, British Columbia: Whitecap Books. ISBN 978-1-55110-034-0.

External links

• Orca-Live – Orcas in Johnstone Strait, British Columbia
• Salish Sea Hydrophone Network – Listen live to orcas in Washington State, U.S.
• Center for Whale Research
• The Whale Museum