UPDATE:Yuculta's fin has collapsed totally to the right, while Slingsby's fin has become straight again. -September 2006

UPDATE:Raven is confirmed to be a male. -August 2006

UPDATE: Nakwakto has gone missing and is presumed dead. -summer 2006

The B7 matriline is the only matriline in the B-pod. They were also one of first pods that we got to know well, and they remain one of the easiest pods to identify.
Their story started when the study was just beginning. At that time, one of the first whales they identified was Hooker. An odd name for a whale, but it came from his distinctive fin, which hooked forward.
Hooker traveled with a pod made up almost entirely of males. Their huge wobbling fins made an impressive and unmistakable sight.
When first encountered, researchers generally just looked for Hooker. Gradually, more whales in the pod came to light. We now know that the pod's matriarch at the beginning of the study was a female called B11. She and Hooker (who was probably her son) traveled with her probable brother Baronet, and her other probable sons B3 and B5 (B5 hadn't sprouted yet). There was one other female besides B11, her daughter Scarlett, and one other small fin, Scarlett's son Izumi.
So, to recap: B11, Scarlett, young Izumi and young B5 traveled with 3 full grown males. Not that odd yet, right? Actually, since everyone knew the B-pod as full of males, there were probably more guys that we never ID'd.
The Bs always moved faster than the also-familiar A-pods. So full of boys and juveniles, they spent lots of their time speeding along, together, or playing and goofing off. All of the whales were exceptionally active.
When first identified, the Bs had a very, very small calf, young enough that he was still orange. Researchers called him Rusty because of his orange colouring. Rusty was very active as well, and while most calves were, he was hyper!
It's probable that Rusty was B6, who was born to B11 the year the study started. If so, he would grow up to be actually named Bauza.
The same year, B11 passed away, leaving Bauza as a year-old orphan. I don't have any information on what happened, but the other Bs must have stepped up to take care of him because he grew into a full grown male eventually. While this might seem odd because this is a pod full of males, grown males have been known to look after orphaned calves (one such case only lasted for one day but was there nevertheless when Springer traveled with the A36 boys).
When researchers considered the Bs to be under Hooker's guide, instead of B11's, the B-pod spent more time in the north of Johnstone Strait, just outside of it, whereas the As spent more time right in the Strait. Occasionally the whales would disappear for a few days, baffling researchers, until they discovered that normally, both Stubbs' (A1) pod and Hooker's pod went up north to Rivers Inlet or Bella Bella, which was 125 miles away, demonstrating their huge range.
Scarlett stepped up to the plate as matriarch, when B11 died. Around the time she gave birth to her second son, Slingsby, the Bpod really came into its own, male-wise. Besides Hooker, Baronet, and B3, B5 and Izumi were now full grown males as well. That meant there were 5 huge males, 1 female and 2 juveniles!
In 1984 and 1987, Scarlett had two more sons, Nakwakto and Yuculta. Just a few years earlier, two males, B3 and B5, had died, evening out the ratio of fins a bit.
In 1991, Scarlett had her 5th calf, and lo and behold, it was a female! Klaskish joined probably 5 mature males at the time, as well as two older but still juvenile brothers and her mom.
The year after she was born, Bauza passed away. Four years later, Scarlett had her last calf, Raven.
Then in 1998, two old legendary males passed away. Both Hooker and Baronet died. The pod, however, remained mostly males.
By 1999, the pod consisted of Scarlett, her four now-full-grown sons, her daughter, and Raven.
In 2002, they lost another male when Scarlett's eldest son Izumi died at age 38. In 2004, the latest addition joined the family when Klaskish gave birth to her first calf, Arrow.
The Bs are a very successful and impressive family. No calves have been known to die during their first year. Scarlett is clearly a great mom; she raised 6 children to maturity.
Now, the pod consists of Klaskish, Scarlett, Arrow, Raven, and the two guys. All of their fins are very impressive and distinctive: Slingsby's fin has straightened out but remains very wavy, while Yuculta's fin has collapsed.
Raven is now 10 years old and has already begun maturing, in the tradition of early maturing in B-Pod.
In 2001, the three brothers Slingsby, Yuculta and Nakwakto determindedly followed the females of A5 pod in front of Cracroft Point, to the delight of OrcaLive viewers. Their persuit, highlighted by Slingsby's enormous leaning fin, can be seen on the OrcaLive Highlights 2001 DVD.
The B7 matriline spends a lot of time alone, instead of traveling with other matrilines, although they do associate with their extended families sometimes. Researchers speculate as to whether the large amount of males in their group has something to do with them spending more time away from others.
The Bs are highly unusual; they all sprout at very young ages, plus the fact that such a high percentage are males.