The first thing to know about BC whales is to know that there are three kinds:

TRANSIENTS are whales that eat mammals (ie, sea lions, seals, porpoises and occasionally whales), and live in smaller, less stable groups. They make a LOT less noise, and all the pods share the same dialect, or language. Their fins are more pointed and less curved, and they travel up and down the coast unpredictably, making them hard to find. Sometimes they disappear for over 10 years! They even seem to breathe more quietly.

OFFSHORES are whales that were only recently discovered, and therefore not much is known about them, at least DEFINITELY not by me! They seem to ressemble RESIDENTS (see below) in most ways, though they travel in larger groups, sometimes over a 100. Not much is known about them, though as their name suggests, they travel offshore and therefore are rather difficult to research.

RESIDENTS are the most well-known and researched orcas in BC. Or, possibly, in the world. They eat fish (mostly salmon), and live in fairly large pods. They live with their family FOR LIFE, and it seems nothing changes that. Once you're born into a pod, you never leave until you die. A MATRILINE (a bunch of matrilines make up a pod) consists of a mother, her kids, and their kids. They travel in predictable routes (until winter, when they seem to DISAPPEAR) and they make a LOT of noise. Each pod has its own dialect. Their fins are curved and swept back, and the tips are rounded. Once a whale is not spotted with its pod, it usually means its died. After it goes missing for a year, it is officially declared dead.

There are 2 types of residents: NORTHERN and SOUTHERN.

Northern residents (what this page is all about) have distinct behavioral patterns. Each pod is unique (well each whale is unique), but there are some things they all share.
Northern residents typically travel in their pods or matrilines. I don't believe they've ever travelled all together. That's because there's too many of them. They are very close-knit families and never fight. All the families seem to get along; when two pods meet, the pods line up to face each other. Early researchers thought they were about to fight, but instead, the whales would rush forward and play and rub against each other, vocalizing loudly. It was like a joyful family reunion.
Northern residents live in northern BC. In the summer, they are most often and regularly found in Johnstone Strait. However, they have been observed as far as the Queen Charlotte Islands, and sometimes they even venture down in the southern territory, near Washington.
In the winter, NRs break down into the most basic family group (the matriline) and travel only with their immediate family. They wander off into inlets and rarely come into Johnstone Strait. It's possible they even go out to sea.
Northern residents are more 'serious' whales than the southerns. That is to say, they spend more of their time travelling than playing like the SRs. This might just be because they play out of sight :P But that's not to say they don't socialize!
One spectacular feature of the NRs is their superpods, when tons of whales travel, play and rest together. Up to 90 whales can be together!
Finally, what seems to be a unique aspect of the NRs is their rubbing beach. At the rubbing beaches in the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve (the first ecological reserve specifically for killer whales), the NRs line up and patiently wait their turn as one to three orcas go at a time. They roll and rub against the smooth rocks at the bottom, and go along the beach. This offers a fantastic view of them, since the water there is amazingly clear.

Northern residents are the most researched orcas in the world. They are made up of three 'acoustic clans'. Because orcas seem to use their dialects as a way to tell how closely their related (the more similiar the dialect, the more closely related), and therefore avoid inbreeding, it makes it easier for researchers to tell which whales are family and which aren't. The acoustic clans aren't which whales travel together the most, but each clan shares at least some of the same calls. The three clans are:
The A-Clan
The G-Clan
The R-Clan

The next step in the social structure is the pod. A pod is a group of matrilines (see below) that are closely related, linked by a common ancestor. Again, they all share some calls, more with each other than the other pods in the clan. And the matrilines typically spend more time traveling with each other, than matrilines in other pods. The Northern Residents are composed of 16 pods. They are:
IN THE A-CLAN
The A1 Pod
The A4 Pod
The A5 Pod
The B1 Pod
The C1 Pod
The D1 Pod
The H1 Pod
The I1 Pod
The I2 Pod
The I18 Pod

IN THE G-CLAN
The G1 Pod
The G12 Pod
The I11 Pod
The I31 Pod

IN THE R-CLAN
The R1 Pod
The W1 Pod

Often, the naming of pods is a mistake caused by researchers who were just beginning to discover the bonds of orca families. They named the pods after the whale with the fin easiest to identify, even though they should have been named after the dominant female. A good example is the A5 Pod, which was named after A5, a male with a notch in the top of his fin. Conveniently named Top-Notch :)

The last and most basic step in the social structure is the matriline; the heart of killer whale society. Almost nothing can seperate a matriline; therefore, if a whale is not seen with its matriline, its most likely dead. A matriline starts with a (usually) old female, the MATRIARCH. Let's say she has three kids; two males and a female. They will swim with her at her side for the rest of their lives. Then let's say the female has a kid. That calf will swim with their grandma and uncles and mother for the rest of HIS life. And so on. One matriline even has FOUR generations! This is because (contrary to what many marine parks say) a female in the wild usually lives over 50 years, and a male over 30. However, some matrilines only have ONE generation. For instance, the A36 matriline consists of only three brothers, because their mother died. Thus, it will eventually die out.
There are 18 matrilines in the Northern Residents. They are:

IN THE A1 POD
The A36s
The A12s
The A30s

IN THE A4 POD(Note: The A4s share a page because they still spend most of their time together)
The A11s
The A24s

IN THE A5 POD
The A8s
The *A9s*
The A23s
The A25s

IN THE B1 POD
The B7s

IN THE C1 POD
The C6s
The C10s

IN THE D1 POD
The D11s
The D7s

IN THE H1 POD
The H6s

IN THE I1 POD
The I1s

IN THE I2 POD
The I22s

IN THE I18 POD
The I17s
The I18s

IN THE G1 POD
The G4s
The G3s
The G18s
The G17s
The G29s

IN THE G12 POD
The G12s
The G2s

IN THE I11 POD
The I11s
The I15s

IN THE I31 POD
The I31s

IN THE R1 POD
The R2s
The R5s
The R17s
The R9s

IN THE W1 POD
The W3s

NOTE:The A9 matriline, in the A5 pod, has now died out, since the matriarch and her two sons have now died.

About the photos: Top photo, Northern Residents resting off Vancouver Island, scanned from Killer Whales by John Ford, Graeme Ellis and Kenneth Balcomb.
Middle photo, Northern Resident hunting and surprising a fisherman, scanned from Killer Whales by John Ford, Graeme Ellis and Kenneth Balcomb.
Bottom photo, A1 pod and A5 pod resting together scanned from Orca: The Whale Called Killer by Erich Hoyt. The first whale on the left is Sharky (A25), the first whale on the left in the back is Nicola (A2), and the big male in the front is Top Notch (A5).