N. Residents

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

*** Final - Amended Recovery Strategy for Northern and Southern Resident Killer Whales in Canada

Proposed Action Plan http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/plans/Ap-KillerWhale-v00-2016Jun13-Eng.pdf

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

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

Photo-identification catalogue and status of the northern resident killer whale population in 2014. Ellis, G.M.; Towers. J.R.; Ford, J.K.B. 2015
Pacific Biological Station; Canada. Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans. Pacific Region. Science Branch

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

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.

British Columbia ID catalogue for N. Residents - the work of Dr. John Ford and Graeme Ellis (Department of Fisheries and Oceans Cetacean Research Program) in photo-identifying the N. 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.

COSEWIC report. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page for further reports on the species.

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

Threats - from Ecojustice.

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.

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

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

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.

BC Cetacean Sightings Network species information

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

COSEWIC reports

The back issues of the Wild Killer Whale Adoption Programmes publication "The Blackfish Sounder". Great source for the latest killer whale research!

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).

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

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

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

www.racerocks.com/racerock/marmam/mammals.htm and http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/archivemammals.htm
- involvement of Lester B. Pearson School in a fantastic marine mammal project. Search the site at http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/web/sitemap.htm

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

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.

http://www.vanaqua.org/aquanews/archive.html - enter the species name in the search field to get any AquaNews bulletins posted by the Vancouver Marine Sciences Centre

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

http://www.geocities.com/theorcaocean/OrcasInCaptivity.html - orca in captivity Not a Canadian page

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. Not a Canadian page

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/creature_feature/0105/orcas.html Not a Canadian page

http://www.rtis.com/nat/user/elsberry/marspec/mm_info.html - ecolocation/biosonar

http://www.stubbs-island.com/english/orca/index.html - Stubbs Island Whale Watching’s killer whale information

www.oceanlink.island.net - Bamfield Research Station’s detailed marine biology page search for your species

Research papers:

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.