The Pender Islands have the good fortune of being situated in the midst of the Salish Sea, a term used to describe a large inland sea comprised of the waters from Puget Sound and the Northwest Straits of Washington to the Strait of Georgia Strait up to Johnstone Strait.  These waters are home to several pods of orcas, or killer whales (Orcinus orca), and the frequent summer sightings of these graceful black and white creatures along Pender's shoreline create a flurry of excitement with island residents and visitors.

Orcas are actually large dolphins, or toothed whales (Odontoceti), and are members of the same Delphinid family as dolphins.  Where dolphins average 3 meters (10 ft) in length, however, male orcas can reach up to 9 m (30 ft) in length, and females to 8 m (26 ft).  At birth, orcas are about 2.5 m (7 to 8 ft) long and weigh about 400 pounds, with females growing up to about 4 tons, and males up to 6 tons.  Females are sexually mature in their teens and give birth to a single calf on average of once every five years, until senescence begins around age 40.  Orcas continue to grow until they reach their late twenties.

The Resident Pods of BC and Washington

The orcas found in southern BC and Washington are known as the "Southern Resident Community," or "J Clan," which are a separate community than the orcas that live in northern BC waters.  The Southern Residents are a large extended family, or clan, comprised of three pods that have been named the J, K, and L pods with 82 members as of July 2016.  The Northern Resident Community (A, G and R clans), which is usually observed in the Johnstone Strait area and northern British Columbia, is made up of about 16 pods containing 220 whales as of July 2005.  Families within each pod form subpods centred on older females that are usually grandmothers or great-grandmothers.  All offspring remain in close association with their mothers for life.  The orca is the only known wild mammal that maintains lifetime contact between mothers and offspring of both genders.