It is part of the northern resident population of orcas—a name given to the fish-eating orcas found in coastal waters ranging from mid-Vancouver Island in British Columbia up through Haida Gwaii and into the southeastern portions of Alaska.
[citation needed] Over time, studies showed that these congregations of orcas did not make up a complete, distinctive pod.
A9 washed up on a beach in Johnstone Strait in November 1990, her stomach containing 5 litres of fish bones representing 13 different species.
As a whole, A5 Pod was captured several times during the 1970s, in order to take young orcas into aquariums around the world.
A female, Corky, is the only orca from these captures still alive, and the only surviving member of those from the northern resident community taken into captivity.
She remains under the care of SeaWorld San Diego in California at 59 years old.
Also, on July 27, 2003, a young male, A60 (Fife), Corky's brother, was injured by what was assumed to be a boat propeller.
In late 2012, A5 pod was sighted without Havannah (A28), as she was not encountered by the summer of 2013, she is now considered dead by researchers.
The three matrilines are: Every whale currently alive in A5 Pod was born during the study, and therefore all of their lineage is known positively.