Southern resident orcas

The southern resident orcas, also known as the southern resident killer whales (SRKW), are the smallest of four communities of the exclusively fish-eating ecotype of orca in the northeast Pacific Ocean. The southern resident orcas form a closed society with no emigration or dispersal of individuals, and no gene flow with other orca populations.^[1] The fish-eating ecotype was historically given the name 'resident,' but other ecotypes named 'transient' and 'offshore' are also resident in the same area.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service listed this distinct population segment of orcas as endangered, effective from 2005, under the Endangered Species Act.^[2] In Canada the SRKW are listed as endangered on Species at Risk Act Schedule 1.^[3] They are commonly referred to as "fish-eating orcas", "southern residents", or the "SRKW population". Unlike some other resident communities, the SRKW is only one clan (J) that consists of 3 pods (J, K, L) with several matrilines within each pod.^[4] As of July 2023, there were only 75 individuals (not counting the captive southern resident, Lolita) in the annual census conducted by the Center for Whale Research.^[5] Lolita, also known as Tokitae, or as Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut to the Lummi, was captured during the 1970 Penn Cove capture, and died on August 18, 2023, at the Miami Seaquarium.^[6][7]

The world's oldest known orca, Granny or J2, had belonged to and led J pod of the SRKW population. J2 was initially estimated to have been born around 1911, which would mean she would have been 105 years old at the time of her disappearance and death which occurred probably in late 2016.^[8] However, this estimate was later revealed to have been based on mistaken information and more recent studies put her at 65–80 years old.^[9][10][11]