Bare Facts: Female ~ Born est.1947 ~ Mother Nicola ~ Father Unknown ~ Children Strider, Blackney, Pointer, A40, Clio, Blinkhorn ~ ID Very curved fin; pointed tip; small nick near tip; saddle set far back; thin fin

Tsitika is a very well-known whale. First she was famous as her mother's daughter, and then as her children's mother.
She was born around 1947, most likely to Nicola. Until 1964, the family consisted of the deeply curved fins of Nicola and Tsitika, and the large ripply fin of Wavy, Nicola's son.
Then in 1964, Tsitika (probably) gave birth to Strider (A9). Tsitika spent more years with only one child than most whales, because six years passed before Blackney (A38) was born, in 1970. Finally, Pointer (A39) arrived in 1975, the first of her children to be born during the study and the last son.
Tsitika gave birth again in 1981, to a small whale named A40. Unfortunately, this was her only calf who did not survive into adulthood-A40 died after only 2 years, in 1983.
1984 brough Tsitika's first (known) daughter, Clio. Then in 1987, Tsitika lost her mother. Nicola disappeared over the winter, and when they returned, Tsitika, distracted by little Clio, let the boys roam around. The family gave up leadership, but not popularity.
In 1989, Tsitika gave birth to her last child, Blinkhorn, often called Minstrel.
Tstitika is clearly a wonderful mother. Not only did she raise five children successfully into adulthood, but her sons are completely devoted to her. This excellent parenting is what has gained her most of her fame, as demonstrated in a passage from Alexandra Morton's autobiography, Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us, which compares her to the chimpanzee mother Flo.

The dedication of her three sons is described in Morton's other book, In the Company of Whales: From the Diary of a Whale-Watcher. The three boys generally make sure one of them is with her, which is odd, since she doesn't need help hunting and she certainly doesn't need protection. Its just another example of the close bond between mother and calf!

Speaking of her in books, Tsitika had another calf that isn't documented in the id book. The birth (and death) is written up in Listening to Whales after describing the aftermath of Nicola's death. In 1993, Tsitika gave birth, but the calf didn't survive more than an hour. Soon after the birth, Strider was pushing the calf vainly to the surface.
Afterwards, to Morton's amazement, Blackney veered away and went over to the cliff face, where there part of it carved away. After this, the calf was not seen again. The whales bunched together and solemnly left; they never returned to that place. Alex checked the cliff later, there was a hole big enough for a calf, but no calf. Was it just washed away? Did Blackney 'bury' the calf?

1999 was a very exciting and saddening year for the A30s. Tsitika's first grandchild arrived, Clio's first baby. Bend, A72, is still doing well, so clearly Clio learned well from her mom.
Unfortunately, around August 1999, Strider, Tsitika's oldest son, died.
The latest addition to the family came in 2001, when Blinkhorn gave birth to Tsitika's second grandchild, now named Cedar. The first sighting of Cedar actually came on an Orca-Live webcast, which is saved forever in the 2001 highlights dvd.
As of now, the family consists of seven members (all of which I adopted :) and are frequently seen on Orca-Live and throughout Johnstone Strait.
Tsitika is a caring mother and a well-known whale (hey, she has a website named after her!), and I'm sure we haven't heard the last of her yet. In fact, Robert Bateman, the world's most famous wildlife painter, painted a painting of Tsitika and one of her sons after an emotional encounter with her. Here's the link: Robert Bateman's Tsitika. It is a beautiful painting (like all of his fantastic work). When you actually see it, the son Tsitika is with is easily identified as Strider.
Tsitika is easy to ID, thanks to her extremely curved fin and the nick on the back.