S. Residents

Southern Resident (inshore fish-eating) Killer Whales/Orca

***Final - Amended Recovery Strategy for Northern and Southern Resident Killer Whales in Canada (Dec 2018)

***Southern Resident Killer Whale Imminent Threat Assessment May 24, 2018 https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/related-information/southern-resident-killer-whale-imminent-threat-assessment.html

***Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 2017. Action Plan for the Northern and Southern Resident Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) in Canada. Species at Risk Act Action Plan Series. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ottawa. v + 33 pp.
https://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/plans/Ap-ResidentKillerWhale-v00-2017Mar-Eng.pdf

See “Residents” at top of page and click “Southern” http://www.bckillerwhales.com/

BC Cetacean Sightings Network species information - click “Species ID” at top of the page and see link for Killer Whale http://wildwhales.org/speciesid/

***Information from NOAA https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/killer-whale#spotlight

American Cetacean Society; Killer Whale: The Top, Top Predator.

Center for Whale Studies Southern Resident Killer Whale latest population numbers and ID photos - www.whaleresearch.com/orcaid

Center for Whale Studies Southern Resident Killer Whale Catalog (for purchase) - https://www.whaleresearch.com/cwrmember

Orca Network - Southern Resident population numbers (Southern Resident Orca Community Demographics, Composition of Pods, Births and Deaths since 1998) - http://www.orcanetwork.org/Main/index.php?categories_file=Births%20and%20Deaths

May 2015 - Excellent article on the plight of the Endangered S. "Resident" Killer Whales by the SeaDoc Society and Evotis Magazine. "Toxins, Noise, Food Scarcity & Disease: Life as a Southern Resident Killer Whale."

Center for Whale Research - http://www.whaleresearch.com/#!orca-population/cto2

June 2014 - NOAA Report “Southern Resident Killer Whales - 10 years of Research and Conservation” = the mother load of the latest research on population dynamics in resident killer whales

-CBC News article on the Report Resident orca whales suffer triple threat of pollution, noise and lack of food: U.S. study
-Executive Summary http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/news/features/killer_whale_report/pdfs/summary.pdf
-NOAA podcast "Killer in Distress" (Running time: 11 minutes).

Center for Conservation Biology - Causes of decline among Southern Resident killer whales

June 2012 - Study in PLoS One on stress hormones in whale poop (as sniffed out by Tucker the Labrador) indicating lack of salmon is a major stressor

March 2012 - Documents from the second NOAA-DFO Bilateral Scientific Workshop to Evaluate Effects of Salmon Fisheries on Southern Resident Killer Whales.

North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research Consortium fast facts on Killer Whales http://www.marinemammal.org/biology/killer-whale/

April 2011 - Further development regarding the Dec 2010 ruling that Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans did not act in accordance with Canada’s Species at Risk Act to protect resident killer whales.

Research paper: Ford, J.K.B, Wright, B.M., Ellis, G.M., and Candy, J.R. 2010. Chinook salmon predation by resident killer whales: seasonal and regional selectivity, stock identity of prey, and consumption rates. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2009/101. iv + 43 p.

BC Cetacean Sightings Network species information

SARA species profile. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page of possible further reports on the species.

Threats - from Ecojustice.

Resident killer whale survival depends on Chinook salmon (Dr. John Ford & Graeme Ellis research) - see coverage on Discovery News (Sept 2009)

Potential impacts of sound - National Geographic News (Sept 2009)

Antibiotic resistant bacteria found in Southern Residents (Nov 2008). Could be true for more killer whale populations and cetaceans in general.

COSEWIC assessment

Orcas on the Edge - article by National Wildlife Federation

www.killerwhale.org - Vancouver Aquariums Wild Killer Whale Adoption Programme – good natural history information

http://www.vanaqua.org/conservationinaction/killerwhales/country.htm - Vancouver Aquarium page on the importance of identifying killer whales as individuals. Includes video.

National Geographic movie (53 minutes) on killer whales - residents and transients. Addresses the threats of reduced food supply and bioaccumulation.

How our attitudes to killer whales have changed over time (from the Vancouver Aquarium).

Chapters from Daniel Francis and Gil Hewlitt’s book “Operation Orca” that highlight human history with killer whales.

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/species/species_killerWhale_NE_Pac_south_e.asp - DFO pages on threats and natural history. Good summary.

http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Killer-Whales/Conservation-Planning/upload/SRKW-propConsPlan.pdf Proposed American conservation plan for the Southern Residents

Voices of the Sea very cool website where you can hear the sounds of cetaceans, see the spectrogram of their sounds, see video clips and learn cool facts from experts! If you click on the orca and then "conservation" and "sound of the orca", Dr. John Ford will tell you about residents and transients and the studies of resident (salmon-eating) killer whales from our area (Northern Vancouver Island).

The back issues of the Wild Killer Whale Adoption Programmes publication "The Blackfish Sounder" are now available on-line! Great source for the latest killer whale research!

DFO publication: Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises of British Columbia, Canada - http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/241969.pdf

http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Killer-Whales/ESA-Status/Orca-Recovery-Plan.cfm - The American Draft Recovery Plan for the Southern Resident Killer Whale population. Detailed threats.

http://www.marinemammal.org/killerwhale/ - North Pacific University's Marine Mammal Research Consortium's excellent fast facts; also click "research" and "killer whales" for very current research issues

http://www.dosits.org/gallery/intro.htm - click your species name to hear its sounds! and http://www.dosits.org/animals/intro.htm - study how marine mammals make sound and how sound effects them.

BC’s Cetacean Sighting’s Network information - Click on "BC's Cetaceans" and then the image of the animal. www.wildwhales.org

http://www.orcalab.org/about-orcas/index.htm - Orca Lab’s natural history of killer whales

ttp://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~ford/ - orca vocals; Dr. John Ford's webpage

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/ - "Frontline's" discussion of orca in captivity. History of orca in captivity. Video footage of Japanese slaughter of bottlenose dolphins and orca.

http://www.geocities.com/theorcaocean/OrcasInCaptivity.html - orca in captivity Not a Canadian page
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/creature_feature/0105/orcas.html Not a Canadian page

http://www.saveorcawhales.org - information source for the decline of the Southern Residents

www.whalemuseum.com
http://www.orcanetwork.org/ - southern resident resource
www.whaleresearch.com - J, K, L pod (Southern residents) information
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/orca/ - the plight of the Southern Residents

Southern resident killer whale population specifics up to July 2013