February 2021

Here is your February 2021 killer whale sightings map for the Salish Sea!

Dodd Narrows to Hornby Island (in the Nanaimo/Nanoose area on the southeast side of Vancouver Island) was the definite hot spot this month, with near-daily reports. Other highlights this month included visits by members of all three Southern Resident pods as well as T87 and the T124A2s spending nine days in Puget Sound before being spotted (you guessed it) up off Nanaimo and Nanoose with several other matrilines.

Not only are the days getting noticeably longer, but this is the time of year we expect orca sightings to start increasing in the Salish Sea. Over the last five years, March has been the best month in the first half of the year for seeing the Southern Residents, with frequent visits from J-Pod in recent years, so we have our fingers crossed that trend will continue. Similarly, Bigg's killer whale sightings tend to start their spring peak in March; last year they were documented on nearly every day of the month!

As always, a huge thank you to everyone who contributes to these reports! More and more people are sharing their sightings on regional pages and it makes these maps even more fun to track.