Southern resident orcas occupy a specific geographic territory from South Puget Sound up into British Columbia, though they also travel out to sea. A group of similar whales, the northern residents, occupy a territory to the north, including Northern British Columbia and Southeast Alaska. The two whale communities overlap around Vancouver Island. Both northern and southern residents eat fish. In contrast, the transients, a separate, wide-ranging group of orcas, prey on seals and other marine mammals.
Transients differ in other ways, too, including their outward appearance and social relationships.
While the two resident communities produce similar squeaks and squeals, acoustic researchers have discovered unique variations, or dialects between the groups. Under study is how much emotional or intellectual information is conveyed through their language. A striking difference between the two orca communities is that the northern residents continue to grow in number while the southern residents have declined. Click here to send your ideas to The Sun.