October 2024

October was a killer whale-filled month in the Salish Sea!

For the second year in a row, we were able to confirm the presence of Bigg's killer whales every single day of the month. Activity picked up in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, particularly between Victoria and Sooke. The T46B1s, T49As, T65Bs, and T99s were among the families seen throughout all of October. The T65As also made an October return after seemingly being away from the Salish Sea for about 7 weeks, and they made another visit to Hood Canal. There were also at least two new calves spotted, but additional encounters will be needed to confirm the mothers.

Southern Resident killer whales meanwhile had their highest October total for days present since we started tracking year-round presence in 2015. Js came in and made their first Puget Sound visit of the year in early October, and then after a short absence were down in Puget Sound from October 19 right through to the end of the month. On October 29, all of Ks and Ls came east towards San Juan Island, marking the first time that we know of in 2024 where the entire Southern Resident community was in the inland Salish Sea waters at the same time. Instead of joining Js straightaway, the went north and made an unusual appearance in Howe Sound north of Vancouver!

Even the Northern Residents had a record month. Typically they vacate the northern Strait of Georgia sometime in September, but this year the A42s were still in the area through the first week of October.

Questions to be answered in November: How long will the Bigg's killer whale consecutive day streak survive? (We've been going since March!) And we've got an SRKW streak going now too: how many consecutive days will be have Southern Residents in Puget Sound?