Spectrograms of discrete calls from two different sets of resident pods off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. Note how similar the calls in the left column are to each other. They are recorded from animals in the same pod (pod N7). The spectrograms in the right column were recorded from animals of a different pod (pod N8).

Figure from Ford, J. K, B. 1991. Vocal traditions among resident killer whales in the coastal waters of British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 69: 1459. Courtesy of NRC Research Press.

The calls from pod N7 are more tonal than the calls from N8. Often whistles and pulsed sound are seen in the same vocalization. Notice the abrupt change in call frequency and structure with one call. These quick changes are thought to increase the chances of detection and localization by the listening whale.
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