Record/Orcas of the Pacific Coast/Bigg's Orcas
01 — Orcas of the Pacific Coast
Bigg's OrcasBigg's Orcas
Mammal-hunting orcas that share the same water as the Residents and never mix with them.
Record
As of 1 July 2026- Individuals
- ~380
- Trend 2016–26
- +62
- Listing
- Not listed
- Primary prey
- Marine mammals
- First catalogued
- 1975
Assessment
Bigg's orcas — long called transients — hunt seals, sea lions, porpoises and the occasional grey whale calf. They travel in small, quiet groups and often stay silent for long stretches, because the animals they hunt can hear them coming.
They occupy the same coastline as the Southern Residents and are genetically distinct. The two populations have not interbred in something like a quarter of a million years. They do not share calls, hunting strategies or social rules, and when they meet they ignore each other.
Unlike the Residents, Bigg's orcas are doing well. Marine mammal protections since the 1970s rebuilt their prey base, and sightings have climbed steadily. It is the clearest natural experiment we have: same water, same contaminants, same vessel traffic — different food, different outcome.
Key points
6 observations- 01Hunt marine mammals, not fish
- 02Travel in small groups of two to six
- 03Largely silent while hunting
- 04Genetically separate for ~250,000 years
- 05Population increasing since the 1970s
- 06Sightings now routine in the Salish Sea