Bare Facts: Male ~ Born est.1957 ~ Died 2000 ~ Mother Eve ~ Father Unknown ~ Children Unknown ~ ID Notch at top of fin; thick, straight fin; dip in saddle

Top Notch is possibly, besides Springer, the best known whale in the northern resident community. This was helped greatly by Alexandra Morton's excellent books, not that he wasn't well known before!
Top Notch was born around 1957, almost certainly to Eve (A9). He joined possible older sister Licka (A8), who was about four years old at the time.
As Top Notch matured, he spent 100% of his time with mom. In 1968, when he was around 11 years old, his entire family was captured by people looking for orcas to take into captivity. Top Notch and his mom and sister were too big, and they were released. The next year, they were all caught again, in the same place, and released again. It's possible that Licka lost a calf to captivity, or Top Notch lost another family member.
However, that traumatizing encounter with people didn't seem to faze the beautiful whale. In 1971, Eve gave birth to Foster (A26).
Top Notch and his brother were very close, and remained so until death. In 1973, the study began and everyone met Top Notch.
At the time of the start of the study, Top Notch was around 16 years old. He had probably only recently matured, but to the scientists he looked like a grand old bull, with his huge fin, stately manner, and easily recognizable notch, which gave him his name.
In the early days, the A5 pod was known as Top Notch's pod. Eve ruled the roost, but Top Notch got all the attention. He wasn't afraid of boats at all. Everyone loved him.
Around the mid-1980s, Foster's fin spouted and he matured. At the same time, Top Notch, his mom and his brother began to wander more frequently away from the rest of the pod, possibly because of the two mature males.
In 1990, Top Notch lost his mom. Eve washed up on a beach. At OrcaLab, Helena Symonds recorded the aftermath of Eve's death. Top Notch and Foster, close together, paced the area, crying out loudly. This was the first time in their lives that their mother hadn't answered. Of course from a scientific view we can't be sure that this was grief.
Top Notch and Foster wandered away from the pod a lot after that, wandering from matriline to matriline, but always together. They mostly spent time with their possible sister Licka and her family.
In 1998, the brothers disappeared for a bit and weren't seen all year. Then, randomly, they showed up in January 1999 with Nodales (A51) and Surge (A61).
In fall 2000, Foster showed up alone, around November. Top Notch was nowhere to be seen. Top Notch would never be seen again-the beloved whale had passed away.