Bigg's Killer Whales

The other main group of killer whales in the Salish Sea besides Southern Residents is a mammal-eating ecotype known as Bigg's Transient Killer Whales. They are doing well, having had 80 successful births since research and census began! Today, there are around 320 Bigg's, although knowing the exact number minute to minute is impossible.

Bigg's Killer Whales are named for Michael Bigg, a researcher who pioneered a research technique called photo-identification. Instead of capturing or harassing these animals to learn more about them, Bigg learned that each whale has a unique set of saddle patches, eye patches, and dorsal fin. Using these markings, individuals could be photographed, identified, and tracked, generation to generation. This technique is now used in all orca research programs around the world.

Like all killer whales, Bigg's are matriarchal and travel with their families, although they tend to swim in smaller groups and form their own pods more then Resident whales. It's common for adult female Bigg's to stop traveling with their mothers as frequently when they begin to have calves of their own, but the social structure remains the same.

Because there are so many of them, I wanted to introduce some of the matriarchs and their families, to give you an idea of what the Bigg's are like. I will probably add more in the future.

The transient alphanumeric system is as follows. For example, if a mother is named T017, then her first calf would be called T017A. If T017A has a baby, it would be called T017A1. So on and so forth. For all intents and purposes on this page, the terms 'Bigg's' and 'transients' are interchangeable. However, there are other groups of transient killer whales around the world. They are not all homogenous, but distinct groups.

If you want to see the full Bigg's transient census, complete with left and right saddle patch, dorsal fin, and eye patch photos, click the link below.

Bigg's Census

The T046s and the T046Bs

T046 Wake

Wake is the matriarch of the T046s group. She was actually captured sometime in the 1970s, but was released. If she had been taken, there would be about 20 fewer killer whales in the Salish Sea today. In this list, not all of Wake's offspring are listed, only the ones she travels with most frequently.

T046B Raksha

Raksha is the daughter of Wake, and she has her own pod, which is pretty vast!

T046B1 Tread

Tread is Raksha's first calf and has two calves of her own, Tsakani and Tl'uk.

T046B2 Akela

Akela is Raksha's first male calf. He has a distinctive looking dorsal fin and spends a lot of time with his mom and siblings.

T046B3 Sedna

Sedna is the third calf of Raksha. She is named for the Inuit goddess Sedna, who created the first whale and seals.

T046B4 Quiver

Quiver is Raksha's fourth calf and third daughter.

T046B5 (d)

Ordinarily, I do not list deceased whales, but T046B5 is an exception. The calf was killed in the first ever documented case of killer whale infanticide. The calf was killed by T068 and her son T068A, very purposefully. Raksha fought to the last inch in attempt to save her calf, but the pair had killed it. It was an astonishing event, to be sure. Several years later, Raksha and the T068s swam together again. Could you call this forgiveness? No one knows for sure.

T046B6 Sol

T046B6 is the youngest calf of Raksha. Her name means 'sun', and her nephew's name is Tl'uk, which means 'moon'. The two are about the same age and spend a lot of time together.

T046D Strider

Strider is the elder son of Wake. He has two distinctive notches in his tall, sprouted dorsal fin, which make him easy to spot. He spends a lot of time with his brother Thor and other transient males, as well his mother.

T046E Thor

Thor is the second living son of Wake. He spends a lot of time with his brother Strider.

T046F Loki

Loki is the youngest son of Wake. He is still quite little, and spends almost all of his time with mom. He is named to match his brother, Thor, of course.

The T065s and T065As

T065 Whidbey II

Whidbey II is the matriarch and elder of this large and well known pod of transients. Her name comes from Whidbey Island, which is a bit south of the San Juan Islands.

T063 Chainsaw

Although his alphanumeric designation doesn't match Whidbey II's, they are definitely mother and son. Chainsaw was named for the three extremely large notches in his dorsal fin, which makes identifying him easy.

T065A Artemis

Artemis is the eldest daughter of Whidbey II, and has many calves of her own. She is named for the Roman goddess of the Hunt.

T065A2 Ooxjaa

Interestingly, in this family, almost every calf has taken some time away from the pod, when they're old enough. Ooxjaa is no exception. He has been seen traveling with other whales and with his own mother and siblings.

T065A3 Amira

Amira is the second son of Artemis.

T065A4 Ellifrit

Ellifrit, Artimis' third living calf, is named after Dave Ellifrit, a prominent whale researcher for The Center for Whale Research and other institutions.

T065A5 Elsie

Although his name might make you believe he is female, Elsie is actually a boy.

T065A6 Castillo

Castillo is the youngest member of this little pod, and she is also the only girl.

T065B Chunk

Chunk is the third child and second daughter of Whidbey II. She doesn't spend as much time with her mother as her older sister, Artemis, does.

T065B1 Birdsall

Birdsall is the first son of Chunk.

The T018s and T019s

T018 Esperanza

T018 is the mother of T019 Mooyah, and she spends a lot of time with her daughter and her two sons. She is estimated to be over 65 years old.

T019 Mooyah

T019 Mooyah, also sometimes known as Nootka, is the daughter of T018 and has two sons, T019B Galiano and T019C Sprouter. She travels with her mother and calves frequently.

T019B Galiano

Galiano is a well known whale in the Salish region. His dorsal fin is very distinctive looking, almost appearing backwards the way it is curved. He is named after the Galiano Lighthouse. He is almost by his brother, Sprouter's side.

T019C Sprouter

T019C travels with his family listed above. He has a tall, pointed dorsal fin with two notches in it. He named for the 'sprouting' that male orcas go through at around ages 12-15, where their dorsal fins sprout from a small, juvenile size to their adult height of around 6 feet.

The T123s

T123 Sidney

Sidney is the matriarch of her three living calves. The T123s often travel with other groups of Bigg's whales.

T123A Stanley

T123A is the eldest calf of T123. He is fully grown, around 20 years old. Stanley has a noticeable overbite, and his upper jaw overhangs on his lower jaw, which I actually think is quite cute. Stanley also has a small round notch in the upper half of his dorsal fin.

T123C Lucky

Lucky is a young and energetic whale who travels with her family. She still has an itty bitty dorsal fin at around 8 years old.

T123D Darcy

Darcy is the youngest calf in this matriline, and she's probably my favorite Bigg's whale. She's around 2 years old, still quite little, and is almost always by her mother's side.

The T137s

T137 Loon

Loon is the matriarch of her three calves. She often travels with other groups of Bigg's, and sometimes her elder two calves will split off on their own to travel with other whales. Loon is named after the national bird of Canada.

T137A Jack

Jack is a very social whale who often travels with other young male Bigg's when they meet up. In the summer of 2019, Jack got caught on something, probably fishing line, and badly cut the area just above his tail fluke. It took several months for the injury to heal, but he seems to be doing just fine now, although he may have a scar around eight inches long on the left side of his flank. He could have cut himself on a rock or other natural feature, but it's still very important to remove fishing line and nets from our oceans, as they make up a large portion of plastic pollutants in marine habitats.

Jack has two small round notches in his dorsal fin.

T137B Tempest

Tempest is the second calf of Loon. She is around 15 years old and is nearing reproductive age, though this tends to vary for orcas. Sometimes, Tempest and Jack will go on rendezvous away from their mother and little sibling, to meet up with other transients, but they always meet up again.

T137D Wright

T137D Wright is the youngest of this matriline, at 8 years old. On the official Bigg's census for 2019, Wright's sex is still undesignated. They have a large notch near the tip of their dorsal fin.