Orca Week

09/27/2025

NINGALOO ORCAS of AUSTRALIA
"A genetically distinct population of killer whales that seasonally visits Ningaloo Reef off northwestern Australia." United Native Americans

This illustration focuses on a small, genetically distinct population of killer whales that seasonally visits Ningaloo Reef off northwestern Australia. It visually compares male and female killer whales, noting differences such as dorsal fin size and saddle patch visibility. The infographic points out their prey preferences—especially humpback whale calves—and includes a DNA graphic to emphasize genetic differentiation. It also includes a scale comparison with a human for context. This educational material highlights the ecological role and unique traits of Ningaloo’s orcas.

09/22/2025

LINE UP at HOWE SOUND, VANCOUVER
"8 members of the A25s and A42s surface side by side." OBI

While out on an After the Breach Podcast all-day trip with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching today we made the trek to Howe Sound near Vancouver, BC - a long run, but wow, was it worth it! We were lucky enough to catch up with Northern Resident killer whales 🤯

It's not unusual for members of the A5 pod to visit the Sunshine Coast, but this is a bit earlier in the season than they usually do. We expect them to be there more in the November-February time frame. But the eating must be good, as the entire pod has spent at least part of this month in the northern reaches of the Strait of Georgia.

Here 8 members of the A25s and A42s surface side by side. We'll have more photos and videos of this encounter to share in the near future!

09/17/2025

SUPER ORCAS CAN FLY, THE MOVIE
"T002C1 Rocky was "flying" during one of our recent trips"
Vancouver Island Whale Watch photo by Aly Kohlman

T002C1 Rocky was "flying" during one of our recent trips! This massive male orca wowed us with a full-on breach, pectoral fins spread wide as he soared through the air! 🐋

📸: Aly Kohlman

09/09/2025

GLOBAL ORCAS of ALASKA
"R24‘s - September 6th, 2025 - Klawock Inlet, Alaska"
Killer Whales of B.C.

09/05/2025

AWARDING WINNING ORCA PHOTO of AUSTRALIA
This photo was winner of the monochrome category in the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 competition.
Photo by Rachelle Mackintosh

This photo was winner of the monochrome category in the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 competition.

Showing the power and beauty, the photographer captured the moment just after the orca had caught some prey.

Photo: Rachelle Mackintosh

09/03/2025

ORCAS ARE GLOBAL
This link shows some of places to see them in the wild.

Luxury Travel Auctions Worldwide

08/29/2025

FIN PHOTO ID TECNOLOGY CALLED 'FINWAVE'.
"The AI algorithm embedded in our dorsal fin photo-identification workflow expediter, finwave, is now published open access in Ecological Informatics. Although developed for Bigg’s killer whales, in this study we also tested the model on southern resident orcas, humpback whales, Lahille’s bottlenose dolphins and minke whales with great results. Overall, this pipeline and its deployment on finwave offer a scalable, efficient, and accessible solution that lowers technical barriers, accelerates and supports cetacean population monitoring efforts and advances the role of machine learning in biological sciences." Bay Cetology

08/29/2025

TOOTH SHAPE WEAR of ORCAS
Illustration by Emma Luck: Northern Naturalist

A little refresh of an infographic I made a few years ago! Tooth shape and wear across killer whale subspecies and ecotypes can give us clues into what they’re eating 🔎 While not pictured here, some killer whales in the North Atlantic also have very worn down teeth as a result of suction feeding on herring!

08/14/2025

EARLY DEVELOPMENT IN ORCA EVOLUTION
O. citoniensis is one of the smallest Orcinine dolphins, patrolling coastlines that used to cover parts of Europe some 3 million years ago, potentially representing a transitional form from other toothed dolphins to the super predators we know today as modern orcas. Illustration by Connor at instagram.com/ddinodan_

AI Mode Summary:
Cetacean Evolution: The ancestors of modern whales (cetaceans, including orcas) evolved from land-dwelling mammals over 50 million years ago.

Early Orcinus Species: The earliest fossil identified as an ancestor of the modern killer whale, Orcinus citoniensis, dates back to the Pliocene Epoch (5.3 to 2.6 million years ago). This species was smaller than today's orcas and had more teeth, resembling a typical dolphin.

Modern Killer Whale Evolution: The exact timeline for the emergence of the modern Orcinus orca species is still being refined. However, studies of genetic divergence indicate that the various orca populations (ecotypes) diverged relatively recently, within the last few hundred thousand years (estimates range between 126,000 and 227,000 years ago). The evolution of their specialized marine mammal hunting behavior is also considered a recent development, likely occurring within the last 1.3 to 3 million years.

The modern Orcinus orca species and its global distribution are recent developments, even though the killer whale lineage is ancient. According to Cell Press, killer whales are the sole survivors of a clade that flourished 4 million years ago. Limited understanding of the rapid diversification of dolphins, including the establishment of modern dolphin fauna, is due to gaps in the fossil record, especially for the Pleistocene epoch. (Google AI Mode)

07/31/2025

GLOBAL ORCAS of FALKLAND ISLANDS
"We’ve had several surprising and exciting sightings on our recent surveys! One of the biggest, was the unexpected appearance of a solitary bull killer whale at Volunteer Rocks on Tuesday. Unfortunately it was getting pretty dark and so we were unable to get usable photo-identification images of this animal, but a few record shots were taken of it in the gloomy pink dusk light." FIWP
Falkland Islands whale project

07/28/2025

GLOBAL ORCAS of ALASKA, ACOUSTICS
Killer whale detection and classification “Recordings were processed using the whistle and moan detector in the passive acoustic monitoring software PAMGuard (version 1.15.17) to automatically identify likely cetacean vocalizations”.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-99668-0?fromPaywallRec=false

07/16/2025

ORCAS IN ROUGH SEAS
The open ocean has large waves (to over 100 feet). How do Orcas react to these big ground swells?

Photo by Jodi Smith via Mendonoma Sightings
“Jodi C. Smith is the Executive Director of Naked Whale Research (nakedwhaleresearch.org). She has relocated to the Irish Beach area to study the endangered Southern Resident pods of Killer Whales - known as J, K and L pods. These Orcas are on the move. They have spent the summer months south of Vancouver Island and in Puget Sound. Now they are passing by the Mendonoma Coast. On Jan. 10th K pod was spotted a mile off of Little River. Jodi went out in a boat to get these photos. As you can probably tell, the seas were rough.” MS