The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) announced that whale watchers in Washington and southern British Columbia documented at least 72 Bigg’s killer whales Thursday, a new single-day record.
“The number might sound unbelievable,” says PWWA executive director Erin Gless, “but it’s no April Fools’ joke.”
Over the course of the day, ten distinct groups of Bigg’s killer whales were reported throughout the Salish Sea, ranging as far south as Hood Canal in Washington’s Puget Sound, and as far north as Vancouver Island’s Campbell River region in British Columbia.
The largest group, spotted by PWWA operators near the northern San Juan Islands, contained 19 killer whales in total. “We were watching a group of four whales when, out of nowhere, 15 more materialized,” shares naturalist Sam Murphy of Island Adventures Whale Watching in Anacortes, WA. “It was magical.”
“This was an awesome community effort with watchers from Campbell River to Puget Sound contributing sightings and photos”, says Monika Wieland Shields, director of Orca Behavior Institute on San Juan Island.
“We wonder how long this increase in Bigg’s killer whales will continue, but they keep setting records. More than 70 in the region in one day is astounding.” Mark Malleson, researcher for the Center for Whale Research and long-time guide for Prince of Whales in Victoria, BC, confirmed the number as a new Salish Sea record.
“There have been days in the last decade with around 50 different Bigg’s killer whales reported, maybe 60,” said Malleson, “but Thursday was certainly the most so far.”
One of the most recognizable individuals spotted Thursday was T63 “Chainsaw”, an adult male killer whale born in 1978. Known for his jagged dorsal fin, he and his mom, T65 “Whidbey” were seen near the US-Canada border in Haro Strait. Unlike endangered Southern Resident killer whales who feed on salmon, Bigg’s killer whales like Chainsaw hunt marine mammals and are thriving thanks to an abundance of seals and sea lions in the region.
