#Southern Resident Orcas

[nando161mando]

[life-on-our-planet]

Southern resident orcas, also known as the southern resident killer whales (SRKW), are an exclusively fish-eating ecotype of orcas that live in and around the Salish Sea. They differ genetically from transient orcas as well as having different dialects and diets. © Rachel Haight - Orca Network

[trua23]

The residents

[cipher-the-sidhe]

New baby in L-pod let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! 💜

31 year old L-90 Ballena and her first baby. Fingers crossed the little one survives and is a female! It’d be great to see this matriline pull back from the brink.

In typical Ballena fashion, she’s being a bit peculiar, and she and her calf have been traveling alone around Lime Kiln without the rest of the pod. Wonder what that’s about, and when these two will meet back up with the rest of L pod?

[semiotomatics]

NEW CALF IN J POD THIS IS NOT A DRILL THERE'S BEEN A NEW J POD CALF SPOTTED!!! 😭😭😭

[orca-sketcher]

Swim free, beautiful girl. At least your suffering is over.

[swirlingyouintomypoems]

Has peta ever said anything abt the vaquita or southern residents or are they too busy getting mad at seaworld for having animals they literally can’t release

[leoparduscolocola]

“By proposing to split Orcinus orca into three separate species—residents, transients, and everything else—scientists aren’t only changing the taxonomic record to more accurately reflect what it means to be a killer whale. They’re also acknowledging the ways that communication, behavior, and even culture can help shape speciation as surely as genetics and physiology do.” ✍️: Craig Welch

[naturesmomentsphotography]

As much as her passing hurts, I believe she's back home. We can't see her, she's not physically there but I believe her spirit is finally home where she belongs with her family and swimming free. She's finally home, just not in a way we wanted, but she's free and her spirit and legacy will live on.

Edit made of Toki and her mother L25 Ocean Sun who is still alive and swimming free in the ocean

[whaleposters]

Resident Killer Whales of the Pacific Northwest: Life History, Anatomy and Growth art print poster. Available at cetek.etsy.com.

[nando161mando]

[smilingpepperonisgirl]

So sad that she wasn’t allowed to come home.

[stephaniestarshine]

It finally happened, I saw orcas today.

I got paid to whale watch.

[trua23]

A southern resident spy hops in the Salish Sea

[cipher-the-sidhe]

Meet L-112: Sooke. This young female Southern Resident Orca died of blunt force trauma, cause unknown. Learning from her tragically young death can do a lot of good for further preserving and protecting her critically endangered living family in L, K, and J pods.

This big boy is L-8, Moclips! You can’t really get a good idea of how big this 18 year old bull was, even with me standing dwarfed next to his skeleton, but he was HUGE!

(Skeletons on display at the Whale Museum on San Juan island, WA)

[jack-the-sol]