Center for Whale Research - orcas Page 1 of 3 Buy a Membership »Make a Donation » CWR Logo Store » Cart & Checkout: 0 The Center for Whale Research (CWR) is dedicated to the study and conservation of the Southern Resident Killer Whale (Orca) population in the Pacific Northwest. Home Membership/Donate About CWR Orcas Encounters Photo Gallery Contact Supporters Logo Store Learn more about Orcas Orca Q&A » Orca Behaviors » Orca Conservation » Orca Population » Become a Southern Resident member of the Center for Whale Killer Whales Research (CWR) and receive member-only access to: The Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) , or Orcas, are actually a large extended family , or clan, 1. High-resolution PDF comprised of three pods: J, K, and L pods . download of our most recent Orca Survey Within each pod, families form into sub-pods centered (Free with membership - around older females, usually grandmothers or great- value $25) grandmothers. Both male and female offspring remain in close association with their mothers for life. 2. CWR-exclusive Southern Resident Killer Whale (Orca) Each Southern Resident pod uses a characteristic ID Photographs dialect of calls (sounds) to communicate. Certain calls (Value - Survival) are common between all three pods. The calls used by the Southern Resident community are unlike the calls 3. "Best of CWR" Photo used by any other community of killer whales. These Gallery, taken by CWR's calls can travel 10 miles or more under water. accomplished wildlife The Southern Resident Killer Whales are frequently photographers seen, from spring through fall, in the protected inshore (Value - Priceless) waters of the Salish Sea. The Salish Sea includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Strait of Georgia, and Puget 4. Access to current news Sound, and all their connecting channels and adjoining and up to date reports on waters, and the waters around and between the San both local and world wide Juan Islands in Washington State and the Gulf Islands in killer whales! British Columbia. (Value - Awesome) K14, K42 and K26 - Sept. 17, 2009 5. Bi-monthly newsletters with population update and field reports, including a free photo to download with every newsletter! As of December, 2013, the SKRW (Value - Exclusive) . population totaled 80*. Click on one or more of As of December 2013, the SRKW population totaled 80 individuals ( J Pod = 25, K Pod = 19, L Pod = 36). the buttons below to play The size of all three Southern Resident pods was reduced in number from 1965-75 as a result of whale an important part in the captures for marine park exhibition. At least 13 whales were killed during these captures, while 45 lives of the endangered whales were delivered to marine parks around the world. Today, only Lolita (Tokitae) remains alive in Southern Orcas. captivity at the Miami Seaquarium. Annual SRKW population updates occur on July 1 and December 31 each year. Buy/Renew * The SRKW population totals cited in this website are for the general public and are provided as estimates. Membership » The number of whales in this population is constantly changing. Please contact the Center for Whale Research directly to receive the most current information, prior to any publication of this population Make a Donation » estimate. The information on this page is updated on July 1 and December 31 each year. Any published or broadcast reference to this population estimate must include credit to the Center for Whale Research. http://www.whaleresearch.com/ 5/30/2014 Center for Whale Research - orcas Page 2 of 3 ◄ 1/1 ► The primary focus of CWR research is the Southern Resident population of killer whales (orcas). All three pods uniting is referred to as a super pod. The photograph above was taken on July 7, 2010. J Pod KKK Pod LLL Pod J Pod is the pod most likely to appear year- With only 19 members, K Pod is the L Pod is by far the largest of the three round in the waters of the San Juan Islands smallest of the three pods in the Southern Resident pods. Its members and Southern Gulf Islands, lower Puget Southern Resident Killer Whale currently total 36. L pod's mature Sound (near Seattle), and Georgia Strait. community. The two oldest females in males are L41, L84, L85, L87 and L88. This 25-member pod tends to frequent the K pod are K12 and K13, both estimated L87 has been traveling with J pod since west side of San Juan Island in mid to late to have been born in 1972. K pod has 2010. L pod had one new calf born in spring. The oldest member of J pod is J2 three mature males, K21, and K26, 2012, L119. L119 is the second and (Granny), estimated to be 103 years old. J and K25. The most recent calf born only surviving calf of L77. pod's mature males are now J26, J27 and into K pod is K44 (male, born 2011), J34. J pod had one new calf in 2012, J49 the first known calf of K27. (male), the first calf of J37. MORE The Southern Residents Killer Whale diet, range, social behavior, kinship and linguistic system are distinct from other killer whale populations in the Pacific Northwest. In the North Pacific, in addition to the Southern Resident Killer Whale community, there is a Northern Resident community (Northern B.C.), a Transient community, and an Offshore killer whale community. Pods from one community have never been observed traveling with those from another community, although their ranges partly overlap. The call dialects of the four communities are also distinct. The Northern Resident community, which is found primarily in the Johnstone Strait area of British Columbia, and northern British Columbia, is made up of about 220 whales in 16 pods. The Northern and Southern Residents are fully described in the book Killer Whales by Ford, Ellis, and Balcomb (UBC/UW Press, 2000). Another community of killer whales, called Transients, can be found in small groups from Mexico to the Bering Sea. They often appear in the Salish Sea and around Vancouver Island. Transients are characterized by a diet of marine mammals, especially seals, sea lions, and porpoises. There are over 250 transients, but they tend to travel in small groups of one to five individuals, staying close to shorelines, often near seal rookeries when pups are being weaned. In 1991, another community, called Offshores, was discovered. These whales may be the ancestral population of the Northern and/or Southern Residents. They are most often seen 15 to 25 miles out at sea, off Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands), though members of this community have been seen from southern Transient killer whales California to the Bering Sea. (near Salt Spring Island, June 6, 2010) Orca ITT Tech uscontractorregistration.com Scholarships Online CCR & ORCA Registration Government Contractor Registration itt-tech.edu/Scholarships © 2014 Center for Whale Research. Learn More About the Opportunity http://www.whaleresearch.com/ 5/30/2014 Center for Whale Research - orcas Page 3 of 3 The Center for Whale Research is a 501c3 nonprofit organization registered in Washington State. All rights reserved. No part of the material found on this website may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any means, without the prior written consent of the Center for Whale Research. All members of CWR are non-voting members. Photos were taken under MMPA permit #532-1822and/or DFO license #2006-08/SARA-34. Website design - Erin Heydenreich & LisaMoorbyDesign.com . http://www.whaleresearch.com/ 5/30/2014.