Meet The greater L54 sub-group
The L54s are the smallest Southern Resident sub-group, currently totaling just four whales. Over the years, this group has been known by several different names depending on who the oldest living female of the group was at the time. Sadly, all the descendants of the L9 matriline have died, causing that matriline to go extinct, so the group is currently known by its only female, L54 Ino. She travels with her two sons and L88 Wavewalker who is the last member of the L2 matriline.
Back when this sub-group was made up of the L3s, L5s, and L54s, they were affectionately known to the whale community as the "back page whales" since they occurred on the final page of the photo-ID guides published by the Center for Whale Research. Members included several iconic adult males including L73 Flash, who had a ruffled fin like J1, and L84 Nyssa with a bold open saddle patch and distinct notch and was the last living member of the L3s.
Back when this sub-group was made up of the L3s, L5s, and L54s, they were affectionately known to the whale community as the "back page whales" since they occurred on the final page of the photo-ID guides published by the Center for Whale Research. Members included several iconic adult males including L73 Flash, who had a ruffled fin like J1, and L84 Nyssa with a bold open saddle patch and distinct notch and was the last living member of the L3s.
L54 sub-group common call types
L-Pod has two distinct acoustic groups. The L12 sub-group can be readily identified by their ubiquitous usage of the S2iii (read as "S2 type 3") call, which is also used by the L54s. By contrast, the most common call for the Greater L4s is the S19, a distinct upsweeping vocalization. S18 is another very unique Southern Resident vocalization heard most commonly by L-Pod whales, made up of three chirps followed by a ascending tone.
S2iii
S19
S18
S2iii from the L12 sub-group of L-Pod
Most common call from the rest of L-Pod
Heard most commonly by L-Pod whales
Days Present in the Salish Sea in 2019-2023
In addition to being the smallest sub-group, the L54s are also the least common visitors to the Salish Sea. We define a Southern Resident superpod as being the entire population together, and when we know we have members of all three pods present, the question is often "Are the L54s there?" because it's not unusual for them to be the only ones missing. Since they are lesser known, it's always extra special to have an encounter with the L54s, as we know they represent the last whales that were part of an L-Pod sub-group that has always done things a little differently from everybody else.
L-Pod Audio Recordings
A few hydrophone clips featuring K-Pod vocalizations. If you enjoy these, you can check out some of other favorite recordings over the years on our Soundcloud.
Other Multimedia Gallery
L54 sub-group Photo Gallery
A few highlight photos of members of the Greater L54s, past and present.
L54 sub-group Video Gallery
A selection of OBI encounter highlight videos featuring members of the L54s.