Whales — Orca

 How to ID Orcas

Orca or Killer Whales are easy to identify due to their dorsal, size, and white/black coloring. There are two main species of Orca Whales in the Salish Sea, the “local” Southern Resident species and the Transient Bigg’s. Additional regional species include the Offshore and Northern Resident's. Offshore are typically found outside the Salish Sea nearer to the Pacific. The Northern Resident Orca are found close to and north of Vancouver Island. The Northern and Southern species do not intermix in any capacity.

The Bigg’s have become the popular species in the area with much larger numbers and more frequent sightings. The Southern Resident population exhibits different social behaviors than the Bigg’s. The Southern Resident Orcas typically travel in pods where as the Bigg’s will travel in small groups of two to five whales. Identification between the two can be difficult and social observations are normally better than individual observations to narrow down they type. A general rule of thumb though shows that Residents typically have more rounded dorsal and an open saddle patch whereas Bigg’s have straighter more pointed dorsal with a closed saddle patch that extends forward further.

Identifying individual Orca Whales

Once the species has been determined identifying the individual whale can be done by looking at the dorsal fin, the saddle patch (markings just behind the fin) and the eye patch shape.

·        Dorsal fin can be ID’d by size,shape, or scaring/knicks/cuts that may be present.

·        Saddle patch can be ID’d by pattern, shape, or scratches and markings inside it.

·        Eye patch can be ID’d based on shape.

Sometimes it can be helpful to combine multiple of these ID methods to confirm an ID if confidence is low on only one ID method or an ID method looks like a match but is not too unique.