The A2s/A30s
Family in Charge...Once

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Nicola~Wavy~Tsitika~Strider~Blackney~Pointer~A40~Clio~Blinkhorn~Bend~Cedar~Klaoitsis~A86

Above photo, of (L-R)Blackney, Tsitika, possibly Clio, Strider and Pointer, was scanned from Killer Whales by Mark Carwadine

UPDATE: A84 has survived its first two years and is named Klaoitsis! -January 2007
UPDATE: Blinkhorn (A54) has just been seen with a new calf (A86)! -June 2006
UPDATE: Clio (A50) has just recently been seen with a new calf (A84)! -July 2005

The A30s...now there's a famous family. Perhaps not famous in the sense of the T2s (Charlie Chin's family-you'll understand if you already know their story) or even Stripe's family, but to the people who get to know these whales, these are the famous ones.
Officially, the A30s are the most commonly encountered whales in Johnstone Strait. They were present in over 60% of the orca encounters in this area (info printed in 1999). They also contain many well-known whales, were for decades the 'dominant' (or as dominant as orcas can get) pod, and are easily recognisable.

Above: Strider and younger brother Blackney, from Issue 5 (1997) of the Blackfish Sounder.


For years, from the beginning of the study (and probably before) until the matriarch's death in 1987, the A30s seemed to be the family in charge. This meant that Nicola (A2), the old matriarch, seemed to be in charge of Johnstone Strait.
The A30s (then the A2s) weren't dominant because they fought with the other whales, but because they greeted them. When another pod arrived in the Strait, Nicola and her family would show up and 'greet' them, usually resulting in a joyful and playful reunion between the families.
However, when Nicola died, the family fell back from its leadership role. While still an important role in the community, the family, now under the rule of Tsitika (A30), Nicola's only daughter, is no longer the dominant pod.
Nicola had a very curved dorsal fin, and this trait seems to have passed on, because Tsitika and her two daughters and even one of her sons have curved fins as well. This makes them easy to identify.
Nicola was the second whale identified in the study, and was very well-known, and so was Strider, her grandson. Tsitika, also, is well-known, as a very good mother.
Today, the pod consists of Tsitika, her two sons Blackney and Pointer, her two daughters Clio and Blinkhorn, Clio's calf Bend and most recently, Blinkhorn's calf Cedar. In 2005 the newest addition to the family showed up, when Clio had her second calf, A84!
Four pod-members have died during the course of the study: Nicola, her son Wavy (A3) (the third whale identified in the study), Tsitika's calf A40, and Tsitika's oldest son, Strider. A40, who was born in 1981 and died around 1983, was the only whale in the family to die under the age of five. It is interesting to note that out of six children, Tsitika only had one that died in its infancy.
The A30s are mentioned many times in many books. Probably one of their most noticeable features was in Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us, by Alexandra Morton, though Nicola featured prominently in Song of the Whale by Rex Weyler. In the same book is a heart-warming tale of two photographers and Wavy.

Below is a screen capture of Halloween 2004 on Orca Live, when OL watchers were challenged to identify the "P-Pod". It turned out to be the A30s!