Whales make their home wherever they happen to be in their aquatic environment, unlike terrestrial mammals which live in a den or nest.
The social bond binds families of whales together in the aquatic environment they inhabit.
Killer whale pods are matriarchal, where females travel with their sons and daughters throughout their lives. These family units are known as MATERNAL GROUPS.
A larger unit is a SUBPOD is made up of one or more maternal groups that travel together.
A POD of whales refers to a large group of subpods traveling together.
Scientists believe males will mate outside their pod, which prevents in-breeding.
COW is the name used to describe mother whales.
BULL is the name used to describe mature males.
CALF refers to a newborn whale.
RESIDENT killer whales generally travel in large PODS of closely related individuals within perceptible ranges.
A5 Pod travelling together
NORTHERN RESIDENTS = 16 pods = 200 whales
The northern resident community patrols the waters off northern Vancouver Island and the mainland coast as far north as southeast Alaska.
One of the best places in the world to view and study the northern resident whales is Johnstone Strait between the B.C. mainland and Vancouver Island.
SOUTHERN RESIDENTS = 3 pods = 85 whales
The Southern resident whales can be seen patrolling the waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia.
Females within these groups are likely to be closely related, such as sisters, aunts or cousins.
TRANSIENTS = 6 groups = 170 whales
Transients roam in smaller groups over large areas of the coast, from Glacier Bay in Alaska to the southern California coast.
The social structure of transients is much looser than the resident whales.
The large kinship groups are usually formed because offspring often leave their mother and join other transient groups.
