Pacific Whale Watch Association 🐳

GOOD NEWS ALERT: After nearly a week entangled in fishing gear, beloved humpback "Pop Tart" is free! Gratitude to DFO's Marine Mammal Rescue Unit and the many PWWA members who went above and beyond for Pop Tart over the last several days. 👇 pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/media/2026/7/1…

Happy Hump Day! 🐋 Humpback whales and sea lions both love a good fish dinner. Last week, lucky guests with @stevestonwhales got to watch four humpbacks and ~10 Steller sea lions hunting together in the Strait of Georgia. 📷: Uwe Zimmermann, Seabreeze Adventures

Pull up a chair - literally! Captain Brock and naturalist Brooke of Outer Island Excursions retrieved this plastic chair from the Salish Sea during a recent whale watching tour.

We're back from a little holiday break and kicking things off with a SPLASH! Here's Bigg's killer whale T86A1 "Nahanni", born in 2001, demonstrating perfect belly flop form. 📷: Melisa Pinnow, San Juan Excursions

Orcas are big. Humpbacks are bigger. It's hard to appreciate how much bigger until you see a photo like this! Just half of this humpback's fluke towers over this orca's dorsal fin. Congratulations to Tobin Sparling of @Whale_Sightings for capturing this remarkable image. 👏

We have happy news to share! "Skipper", the young humpback believed to have been hit by a passenger ferry near Vancouver last October, was spotted in Puget Sound earlier this week! Prior to this, her last sighting was early December. 🐋 Read more here.👇 pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/media/2026/6/2…

Happy Hump Day! 🐋 Humpbacks are steadily streaming into the Salish Sea now, with more arriving from the breeding grounds every day. Might just be us, but they seem particularly surface active this season! This backward breach comes from Selena Rhodes Scofield of @eaglewingtours.

We're starting the week off with this breaching beauty, 16-year-old Bigg's (mammal-hunting) killer whale T124A4 "Sabio". Sabio means "wise one" in Spanish and Portuguese. 📷: Jake Hawley, @orcaspiritvic

@edalmcintire @OceanEco Right? Who do we have to bribe to have that experience?!

@ThePWWA @OceanEco Ok the fact it's chainsaw makes this just absurd 😮

Bigg's orcas & humpbacks are the two whales seen most often on our tours. If you're lucky, you'll see both on your trip. If you're INSANELY lucky, you'll get them in the same frame!!! Here are highlights from a recent tour near Parksville, BC.🤩 📷: Simon Pidcock, @OceanEco

Happy news! As a reminder, both whale watch vessels *and* recreational vessels must stay at least 1,000 yards/metres (WA/BC) from endangered Southern Residents in the Salish Sea. The photos in this article were taken by researchers operating under permit. cheknews.ca/were-thrilled-…

Are you kidding us with this pic!?!? No Photoshop. No AI. Just absolutely perfect timing. Naturalist Tiffany Waldner of Blue Kingdom Whale & Wildlife Tours snapped this shot near Anacortes, WA at the end of yesterday's tour. Well done, Tiffany! 👏

@Pilo2Lilo This can be N001.

@ThePWWA newt photo ID catalogue coming 2027 🤓

casually scrolling in a zookeeper group on Facebook when I stumble upon a picture of a newt that looks so familiar to me. I go back to my photos from 2022 of the newts I used to work with at the st louis aquarium.......its the SAME NEWT

Alas, there is one less harbor seal in the Salish Sea following this incredible predation event the crew at @sanjuancruises in Bellingham, WA witnessed before they even untied from the dock! 📷: Elliot Shaughnessy-Lively

Happy Hump Day! 🐋 The first mom/calf pairs are arriving from the breeding grounds. Here's an adorable pic of BCX2183 "Smoke" with her new calf. Other moms with calves this year include BCY0862 "Apollo", BCY1229 "Deca", and BCX1057 "Divot". 📷: Alli Montgomery, @FRSClipper

🚨NEW SCIENCE ALERT 🚨 A new open-access article in Marine Mammal Science examines seasonal presence of Bigg's (mammal-hunting) killer whales in the inside waters of Vancouver Island. The PWWA is proud to have contributed sightings data toward this study. doi.org/10.1111/mms.70…

It's World Ocean Day! 🌊 Without healthy oceans, there would be no whales to watch. It's our duty to be good ocean stewards. Here are some pics of our members removing trash from local waters. 📷: @sjioutfitters 📷: @Whale_Tours 📷: @sjiwhalewatch 📷: Outer Island Excursions

Several PWWA member companies are participating, so while you won't see Southern Residents on a whale watch tour, you might see their fins and learn their story! You can find a map of all the fin locations here: orcabehaviorinstitute.org/southern-resid…

In honor of Orca Action Month, Orca Behavior Institute teamed with artists for the "75 Fins for 75 Whales" project. The project features life-sized dorsal fins - one for each living Southern Resident - at locations throughout the Salish Sea & beyond. vicnews.com/2026/06/05/end…