The J2 matriline is the natal group of 2 of the best known whales in the world. It has all a Southern Resident family could want in a history: a practically immortal matriarch, a loss to the captures, many successful births, a collection of newspaper articles, and like so many others in their community, they are missing a generation.

The J2s, along with the rest of J-pod, are led by the remarkable whale Granny, and have been as long as we've known them. When we first began studying the family in 1976, the group consisted of Granny, her male-of-some-relation Ruffles, her daughter Sissy and her granddaughter Samish. Since then the dynamics have changed somewhat, with Samish now the mother of the family and Sissy having gone to the ocean in the sky.

But our knowledge of this family goes back further than the study. Like all of the Southern Residents at that time, Granny's group was captured in the nets of the 60s by people looking for the new Shamu (or Kandu, or Nootka, depending on the park). They lost a small calf to those nets, and he would become one of the only captive whales with an ID number. Besides this, Granny's distinctive fin has been seen in quite a few old photos (perhaps even from the 40s!), proof of her longevity.

One long standing mystery of the family (and indeed of the whole Southern community) is Ruffles' relation to Granny. We know they are rarely seen apart, and both are setting longevity records for their genders, but how are they related? The ID book says they are brother and sister, and many people stick to that. But there is also quite a bit of support for the notion that he's her son. We may never know!

The family has recently been one of the healthiest and luckiest in the endangered community. They haven't lost a whale in 11 years! The group now consists of the matriarch, a big bull, a sprouting male, an adult female, and two juveniles.