Adopt a Killer Whale!

Establish the B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network, a citizen science program that collects reports of whales, dolphins, and porpoises in B.C.

Assist with the historic rehabilitation and release of Springer (A73) the killer whale

Commence annual drone-based surveys in the northeast Pacific to assess whale health

Create the Whale Report app to permit sightings to be received from cellular devices

Create the Whale Report Alert System (WRAS) in B.C. to reduce the injuries and deaths of whales due to vessel collisions by alerting commercial mariners of whale presence, in collaboration with a working group of professional mariners

Host a whale disentanglement workshop with researchers and fishermen and produce A Mariner’s Guide to Reporting Whale Entanglements in Western Canada

Milestone reached when over 50 professional marine organizations across British Columbia and Washington State registered with WRAS accounts

Create novel protocols for detecting whale DNA using environmental DNA sampling techniques

Begin winter study to address habitat-and prey-related knowledge gaps for whales in the Salish Sea

Milestone reached of over 75,000 WRAS alerts sent to vessels

Develop a new protocol for detecting early-stage pregnancies in killer whales

Milestone reached of 200,000 whale, dolphin, and porpoise sightings in the Ocean Wise Sightings Network (formerly the BC Cetacean Sightings Network) database

A charismatic young female southern killer whale born in 2003.

A female northern resident killer whale rescued in 2002 and now thriving in the wild.

Named after Eclipse Point, Eclipse is an adult female killer whale born in late 1997.

Stanley, a Bigg’s killer whale, is named after the famous Vancouver landmark Stanley Park.

One of the most famous wild killer whales, she was observed carrying her deceased newborn's body in 2018.

A young male killer whale born in 2018, Venture is a member of the A5 pod.

An easily recognizable northern resident with a dorsal fin notch obtained from an injury.

Named after Eliot Passage, this young female northern resident killer whale was born in 2014.

This matriline consists of the famous northern resident Springer (A73) and her two calves Spirit (A104) and Storm (A116).

Led by Shachi (J19), they belong to J pod one of three southern resident pods.

Family members in this southern resident matriline include Tahlequah (J35) and others seen in the feature film, Free Willy.

This growing matriline's matriarch, Sonora, lost two calves - but is now a grandmother of two.