April 2021

Here's your sightings update for April 2021 in map form! Remember our comment about Ts painting the Salish Sea red last month? Reports were off the hook, with over 120 confirmed sightings, nearly double the average of recent years. Pretty much anywhere there were eyes on the water, there were Bigg's killer whales! We'll have to see if the surge continues through May.

While in some recent years the Southern Residents have been completely absent in the month of April, this year J-Pod stuck around early on, last being seen on the evening of April 10th. Our best guess is they have headed west as they have often done in recent springs, likely to the western end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and/or west side of Vancouver Island. If new patterns hold, they may not return to the Salish Sea until sometime in mid-late June or even early July.