January 2024

Here is our first monthly map of killer whale sightings in the Salish Sea for 2024! Overall, orca reports were up compared to a typical January, and that was driven by the continuing rise of the Bigg's. We had the lofty goal of trying to confirm Bigg's every day of the year in 2024, and while we aren't surprised that we fell short in January, we did still set a record by confirming them on 27 of the 31 days of the month.

Many Salish Sea regulars spent a good portion of January in the Salish Sea including the T18s, T60s, T90s, T100s, T101s, and T137s. A highlight at the end of the month was a report from the Center for Whale Research documenting a new calf traveling with T30B, the first new calf we heard of in 2024.

J-Pod likely spent most of the month in the Strait of Georgia where it remains easy for them to "disappear" in the winter months with fewer eyes on the water, and perhaps the fact that they made fewer forays into the central and southern Salish Sea compared to last year led to the reduced number of sightings. K-Pod also made one appearance in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Sadly the biggest news was the loss of new calf J60 who had first been seen at the end of December; in the near future we will be sharing a guide for Southern Resident-focused advocacy items so we can collectively channel some of our grief into meaningful action.

On the Northern Resident front, the A23s, A25s, and A42s were all seen along the Sunshine Coast. That's typical for the A42s this time of year but it was fun to get reports of some additional A-Clan members this year as well!

January and February are typically our slowest months of the year for whale sightings, but we've already had several action-packed days with reports of Bigg's and Southern Residents in the first week of February, so it will be interesting to see if that continues as the rest of the month plays out!