July 2024

In case there was any doubt, the July lull that we used to see in Bigg’s killer whale sightings in the Salish Sea is clearly no more. For the sixth year in a row, we were able to confirm the presence of Bigg’s killer whales every single day for the month of July, but perhaps even more astounding is the number of overall sightings: 2024 saw a full 70% increase compared to 2023!

So who exactly was around last month? Over 115 members of the Bigg’s killer whale population in total! This included the T109A2s, who basically spent the entire month here, much of it between Victoria and Sidney where this young family made life very difficult on the local harbor seal population. The T34s and T37s, T46Bs, and T77s also spent most of the month here. Other Salish Sea regulars, such as the T49As, T65As, and T99s started July here, but made their exit partway through the month and weren’t seen in recent weeks. Interestingly, a locally uncommon quartet of T117A, T117B, T117B1, and T172 did many laps back and forth in the Strait of Juan de Fuca over the course of the month.

Also of note in July were some truly massive T Parties. We define a T Party as 3 or more matrilines totaling 15+ whales, but some of the groupings last month blew that criteria out of the water! The largest group we were able to document was a group of 41 (!!) heading west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on July 12th, but there were several other days with groups numbering in the 30s. It’s no longer safe to assume that a large group if inbound or outbound orcas in the Strait is residents!

Speaking of residents, the A42s and A94 of the Northern Resident community spent some time taking up their typical route around Campbell River in the northern Strait of Georgia, although they also spent some time further north and thus there weren’t as many Salish Sea sightings as last year.  On the Southern Resident front, J-Pod was the only group to come into inland waters in July. They started the first few days of the month here, then went west for three weeks, coming back for another week from July 22-29. The Center for Whale Research, however, did a western survey in early July and were able to document the entire Southern Resident population together near Swiftsure Bank. So while they weren’t here, they weren’t too far away, and were all still meeting up together in a superpod as they used to do in the Salish Sea during the month of July.

Sightings (defined as a unique group of whales seen on a unique day) definitely slowed way down in the last few days of July, so we’ll see if that continues into August or if it’s just a momentarily lull before another “T Storm” or, hopefully, another visit from the Southern Residents.