They are most commonly seen in the waters around Victoria and the San Juan Islands in the summer, although they may range north to Desolation Sound and as far south as California in the winter months. The southern resident community consists of one clan (J clan) and 3 pods (J, K and L pods) and number only around 86 animals. In over 30 years of research, members of the two communities have not been found in the same area at the same time. Resident killer whales appear to be split into two communities, which are known as “Southern” and “Northern” residents. A clan is a group of pods that share similar calls or dialects, indicating that they share a common ancestry and are more closely related to each other than to whales in other clans. A pod is a larger unit that is made up of one or more matrilines that travel together and may be related. In the resident assemblage, these family units are known as MATRILINES. These bonds remain strong between siblings even after the mother has died. Resident killer whales live in a complex matriarchal society, in which sons and daughters stay with their mother throughout their lives, even after they have offspring of their own. LANCE BARRETT-LENNARD AND KATHY HEISE Resident killer whales These whales rely on echolocation to find their prey. Resident killer whales are salmon specialists, and chinook salmon makes up the majority of their diet, year-round. Resident killer whales range from SE Alaska down to the coast of Oregon, although in recent years some of the pods have been seen as far south as California in the winter months. These three assemblages have distinct differences in their diet, range, behavior and social systems. However, t here are three types of killer whales that live in the waters off the coast of western North America. Photo identification is a technique that is undertaken to this day identification catalogs are continually being updated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Center for Whale Research. This technique was integral in allowing researchers to identify individual killer whales and by extension estimate population sizes, movement patterns and provide insight into social structure and birth and death rates. In the early 1970’s photo-identification of killer whales was established by the late Michael Bigg of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Intensive field research in this region has been in progress for almost 30 years. Killer whales along the coast of British Columbia and Washington are some of the best-studied whales in the world.
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