Scimitar A12 1941
	Nimpkish A33 1971	Simoom A34 1975
Echo A55 1990	Misty A62 1993	Eclipse A67 1996	Stormy A74 2000

Who are the A12s?

The matriarch A12 is called "Scimitar" because her dorsal fin has the distinctive curved shape of the sword. Born in 1941, she had two youngsters with her when she was first seen in the early 1970s... her sons A31 (Pulteney) and A33 (Nimpkish). In 1975 her daughter Simoom (A34) was born. For many years the profile of the family was that of a mum with two growing sons and a daughter swimming beside her. When the sons became adults and Simoom started having her own babies, the picture of the A12s was that of a perfect orca family. Nimpkish became "Uncle 33" because he spent much of his time with young Echo, while his brother Pulteney continued being his mum's closest companion. Pulteney died in 1997 at age 39. Today, the family's focus has shifted to the new generation of Simoom and her 4 babies, though granny Scimitar and Nimpkish are always nearby, too. Simoom is a special mum to us partly because of the timing of the birth dates of her babies... all four were born in late October or early November!