June sees record number of Bigg’s killer whale sightings in Salish Sea

According to the Orca Behavior Institute (OBI), located on San Juan Island, Washington, last month saw a record number of Bigg’s killer whale sightings in the Salish Sea. 

In total, there were 260 sightings in June alone. 

The organization posted a map on social media showing the record-setting number of sightings from throughout the waters surrounding southern BC and Washington. 

“While there are some noticeable gaps on the map west of Sooke and in the central Strait of Georgia, these are more due to fewer eyes being in those areas than lack of whales,” wrote Monika W. Shields, president of the OBI, in a social media post on June’s sightings. 

“Additionally, some of the groups just get picked up either closer to shore or along ferry routes and then traverse into those areas throughout the course of the day, so really, the Bigg’s were everywhere!”

The OBI noted that nearly all the Salish Sea regulars made at least an appearance, including the T2Cs, T63 and T65, T99s and T123s, who all spent virtually the entire month in inland waters. 

Furthermore, some less common Bigg’s killer whales visited the waters off Vancouver Island, including the T64Bs, T68Cs and T69Ds.

In addition to Bigg’s killer whales, June saw the first visit to inland waters by the Southern Residents in over 60 days. 

According to the OBI, the J-Pod and the Greater L4 sub-group went as far up the Georgia Strait as the mouth of the Fraser River before heading back west over a period of about 48 hours. 

“This came with the happy news of new calf L130, whose mother has yet to be 100% determined, along with the sad news that L129 (first seen in February) was no longer traveling with the group and is presumed deceased,” Shields wrote.  

“All killer whales, but Southern Residents in particular, have a high mortality rate during the first year of life, especially during the first critical few weeks.”

She noted that the newest addition, L130, seems to be looking plump and is likely already several months old.

The OBI is hopeful the Southern Residents will be back in July; however, last year none were documented in the Salish Sea at all in the month of July.

Despite this, there have already been 70 confirmed sightings of Bigg’s killer whales in the first week of July alone. 

No Northern Resident killer whales were spotted in the Salish Sea this June.

In total, there are approximately 385 to 400 Bigg’s killer whales left along the west coast of North America. 

Comparatively, there are exactly 74 Southern Resident killer whales remaining, making this species critically endangered. The Southern Residents are divided into three distinct family groups: J pod (27 whales), K pod (14 whales) and L pod (33 whales).