The Whale Dreamer

Photo by David Ellifrit, NOAA Fisheries Service

DID YOU KNOW?

That Orcas (often referred to as Killer Whales) are actually dolphins!

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Powerful as they are, orcas have a special place in several Pacific Northwest cultures as guardians of the sea who protect people against sea monsters. Orcas are found in all the oceans of the world, but the best-known populations live in the Pacific Northwest. There are populations that live in deep waters far offshore, some that are transient and sometimes visit the inland waters of Puget Sound, and some that prefer the shallower coastal waters and that we call resident orcas. 

The social lives of orcas revolve around their families, known as pods. In their oceanic world, orcas use clicks and whistles to communicate with each other. Each orca pod has its own dialect, a unique set of noises that distinguishes their family from other pods. The Southern Resident Killer Whales, for instance, are grouped into three pods that are named after the letters of the alphabet: J, K, and L.

This is a matriarchal society where the females are known to live up to a century- almost twice as long as the male orcas. Big on family values, orcas also love their grandmothers! Older and wiser, once a female orca is about 50 years old, and can no longer reproduce, she takes charge as the head of the pod. You can now find her swimming at the front of the group followed by her relatives. She helps feed and raise her offspring and their young ones and can pass on her wisdom about where best to hunt and how to survive in these waters. In 2017, J pod lost their Granny (J2), thought to be over 105 years old. Without her around, her family has lost her protection, guidance, and knowledge.

They are top predators as a species, but each group has developed their own taste for unique prey. While transient orcas eat marine mammals like sea lions and porpoises, resident orcas prefer fish, specifically Chinook salmon.

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Grieving
Orcas are very committed family members and have been known to mourn their lost ones too. The public display of grief by Tahlequah (J35), the orca who lost her newborn hours after birth in July 2018 in the Salish Sea, touched the hearts of many. Tahlequah swam thousands of miles across the Pacific Northwest clinging to her lost calf for 17 days. Her family always stayed at her side, supporting her on this journey, through her grief, as any close-knit family would.