July 2023

Here is the July 2023 Salish Sea killer whale sightings map, and it was a bit of an odd month, wasn't it?

J-Pod and the L12 sub-group were around for the first five days of the month, with Js making an uncharacteristic summer visit north to Campbell River. The Southern Residents went west on July 5th and have yet to return to inland waters, though we've heard reports of all three pods off the western Strait of Juan de Fuca where we hope they are finding plenty to eat.

While Bigg's killer whales were confirmed each day for the month of July for the fifth straight year, it didn't quite feel like the "Bigg's boom" we've seen in recent years in terms of the number of family groups around. There weren't many sightings in the northern Strait of Georgia or Puget Sound, and many of the central Salish Sea sightings were of the same subset of matrilines including the T2Cs, T34s/T37s, T36As, and T65Bs. That said, the overall number of sightings for July (~120) is almost the same between this year and last.

But perhaps most unusual for the month were the Northern Resident killer whales! The A42s made their way down Johnstone Strait on July 7th and took up residence in the northern Strait of Georgia. The only departed for a couple of days, being present for a total of 20 days in the northern Salish Sea in July. On many days they were doing the same circuit off the southeast side of Quadra where reportedly the (human) fishing has been good, so presumably the whales are finding lots to feast on there as well.

It's been a bit of quiet start to August so far, with only a few sporadic Bigg's sightings and no return of the Southern Residents for now over 30 days and counting. Meanwhile, the A42s are still doing their thing near Campbell River, the only true resident killer whales so far this summer! We'll have to wait and see what the rest of the month has in store...

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