Bigg's Annual 2024
Here is our 2024 annual sightings map for Bigg's killer whales in the Salish Sea. Each color indicates a different season, and the size of the circle indicates the minimum group size reported. All of these sightings were verified as Bigg's either in person or via photos, video, or audio either by OBI or by our network of trusted observers including whale watch captains and naturalists and dedicated shore-based viewers with proven experience differentiating ecotypes. Each dot represents the first location of a unique group seen on a unique day, not repeat sightings of the same group over the course of a day.
We all know that Bigg's killer whale sightings have been off the charts, but just take a look at some of these numbers....
In 2024, sightings were up nearly 30% compared to 2023!! That's an increase of more than 400 reports across the year, with the months of May, June, and September all surpassing 220 unique sightings in a single month.
To put this in further perspective, we thought 2017 was a banner year with over 630 sightings. We reached that total this year in the summer months alone. It's hard to interpret trends when the map becomes almost solid with sightings dots, so we'll take a visual look at a seasonal breakdown in the future, too, but a few things do still jump out to me.
Winter sightings, not surprisingly with fewer boats on the water, seem to cluster near more highly populated areas and ferry terminals where there are still regular eyes on the water. This leads me to believe we are probably still underestimating the winter presence of Bigg's killer whales. Both Puget Sound and Howe Sound sightings seem highest in the spring months of March through May. And there's a lot going on both in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the southern Strait of Georgia in the fall!
The Pacific Whale Watch Association and Orca Network are key partners that make this project possible, but this incredible level of tracking is also thanks in large part to the literally hundreds of you openly sharing your reports, many of them in community sightings groups. As we transition to the next age of social media, we encourage you to take a look at the growing Salish Sea whale sightings community on Bluesky, where the San Juan Islands, Puget Sound, and Campbell River have already created active real-time sightings feeds. You can find these feeds and other key Salish Sea whale accounts in our Bluesky starter pack here:
