Only thing I have noticed when they travel past Powell side is the transients are much quieter and travel as if on a mission. The local pod is noisier and will breach and play.
Fishing is lousy for a longer period after the locals have been around. A number of years back we had a huge pod (75-100+) made up of most of the groups around here and I don't remember any mention of transients being involved.
This information below is from NOAA
In the eastern North Pacific Ocean, three distinct forms, or types, of killer whales are recognized.
residents
transients
offshores
The three types differ in morphology, ecology, behavior, and genetics. A recent genetic study suggests the transient type has been separated from all other killer whales for approximately 750,000 years and might represent a separate species or subspecies. All three types of killer whales share at least part of a home range, yet they are not known to intermix with one another. The resident and transient types both have multiple populations within their range.
Resident Killer Whales are noticeably different from both transient and offshore forms. The dorsal fin is rounded at the tip and curved and tapering, or "falcate". Resident whales have a variety of saddle patch pigmentations with five different patterns recognized. They've been sighted from California to Russia. Resident whales primarily eat fish.
Resident killer whales in the North Pacific consist of the following populations:
Southern residents
Northern residents
Southern Alaska residents
Western Alaska North Pacific residents
Resident type killer whales occur in large social groups termed "pods," which are defined to be groups of whales that are seen in association with one another greater than 50% of the time. The pods represent collections of matrilines (a matriarch and all her descendents), which have been found to be the stable social unit.
The Southern Resident killer whale ("Southern Resident") population contains three pods, considered one stock under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and as a "distinct population segment" (therefore, "species") under the Endangered Species Act (ESA):
J pod
K pod
L pod
Their range during the spring, summer, and fall includes the inland waterways:
Puget Sound
Strait of Juan de Fuca
Southern Georgia Strait
Their occurrence has been documented in the coastal waters off of:
Oregon
Washington
Vancouver Island
central California
Queen Charlotte Islands
Relatively little is known about the winter movements and range of the Southern Resident stock. Southern Residents have not been observed associating with other resident whales, and genetic data suggest that Southern Residents rarely, if ever, interbreed with other killer whale populations.
Transient Killer Whales occur throughout the eastern North Pacific, and have primarily been studied in coastal waters. Their geographical range overlaps that of the resident and offshore killer whales. The dorsal fin of transient whales tends to be more erect (straighter at the tip) than those of resident and offshore whales.6 Saddle patch pigmentation of transient killer whales is restricted to two patterns, and never has the large areas of black pigmentation intruding into the white of the saddle patch that is seen in resident and offshore types. Transient type whales are often found in long-term stable social units that tend to be smaller than resident social groups (e.g., fewer than 10 whales); these social units do not seem as permanent as matrilines are in resident type whales. Transient killer whales feed nearly exclusively on marine mammals.7
Offshore Killer Whales are similar to resident whales, but can be distinguished generally--but these characteristics need to be further quantified8--by features such as their:
fins, which appear more rounded at the tip with multiple nicks on the trailing edge
smaller overall size
tendency for males and females to be more similar in size (less "sexual dimorphism")
Offshores have the largest geographic range of any killer whale community in the northeastern Pacific and often occur 9 miles (15 km) or more offshore, but also visit coastal waters and occasionally enter protected inshore waters. Animals typically congregate in groups of 20-75 animals with occasional sightings of larger groups up to 200 whales. They are presumed to feed primarily on fish, though they have been documented feeding on sharks. It has even been hypothesized that they may be shark specialists, but further observations are needed to confirm this theory. Genetic analyses indicate that offshore killer whales are reproductively isolated from other forms.
Southern Resident Killer Whale Critical Habitat
(click for larger view PDF)
Killer Whale Range Map
(click for larger view PDF)
Habitat
Killer whales are most abundant in colder waters, including Antarctica, Norway, and Alaska. Killer whales can also be fairly abundant in temperate waters. Killer whales occur, though at lower densities, in tropical, subtropical, and offshore waters.
Following their listing as an endangered species in 2005, critical habitat was designated in November 2006 for the Southern Resident population.
Distribution
Killer whales are the most widely distributed marine mammals. They are found in all parts of the oceans and in most seas from the Arctic to the Antarctic.
In the North Pacific Ocean, killer whales are often sighted in all parts of Alaska, including:
Bering Sea
Aleutian Islands
Prince William Sound
southeastern Alaska
They are also often sighted in other areas of the North Pacific Ocean, such as:
nearshore and intercoastal waterways of British Columbia, Canada and Washington State
along the U.S. Pacific coast in Washington, Oregon, and California
along the Russian coast in the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk
on the eastern side of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands
