Transient Orca

Transient orcas are the same species as resident orcas but represent a completely different cultural strategy. While resident orcas specialize in salmon and maintain large, stable pods with complex vocalizations, transient orcas hunt marine mammals in small, silent groups. The two ecotypes swim past each other in the same waters but never interbreed, never share food, and never communicate—cultural boundaries as absolute as species boundaries.

This cultural speciation without genetic speciation demonstrates how powerful cultural transmission is in orca society. Transients learn to hunt seals, sea lions, and whale calves from their mothers. Residents learn to hunt salmon. Neither tries the other's prey even when opportunity presents. They've essentially become different species through accumulated cultural difference rather than genetic drift.

The business parallel is cultural segmentation within the same industry. Transient and resident orcas are like companies in the same industry that serve entirely different customer segments through different go-to-market strategies—enterprise software companies versus SMB-focused competitors, luxury retailers versus discount chains. They share capabilities and geography but their accumulated cultural practices make crossover nearly impossible. A transient orca can't suddenly become a salmon specialist; a Nordstrom can't suddenly become a Walmart.