🐋 Help choose the new cover for Marine Mammal Science! As the journal moves to continuous publication, SMM is selecting a permanent cover image celebrating marine mammal diversity. How to vote: log in on the SMM website

Bremer Canyon Killer Whales Take Charge. Read the full story here: buff.ly/QA1fEYS Photo by Naturaliste Charters This is an encounter from 2024 #WhaleTales #KillerWhale #DolphinAwarenessMonth

A Rare Visit from Bigg's Killer Whales. Read the full story here: buff.ly/iwbsrmL Photo by David This is an encounter from 2020 #WhaleTales

A wet whale sighting from the Des Moines pier! Prior to this week in the Salish Sea, the only time this whale has been documented was in Alaska in 2025.

Have you heard about the 3 mystery orcas that showed up near Vancouver last week and now were seen in Seattle today? Get the details on what we know (thanks to the power of community science) and don't know about them here: www.orcabehaviorinstitute.org/orca-updates... #whalesky

First Up: #1 seed Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) vs #16 seed Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) #2026MMM

It's #DolphinAwarenessMonth! DYK there are between 36 & 40 species of dolphin swimming on Earth, depending on how you categorize certain subspecies? Maui’s dolphins are the smallest, coming in at an average of 50kg & 1.7m & Orcas are the largest at 6 tons and 9.5m 🖌️: Green Humour #WhaleTales

We can't let #DolphinAwarenessMonth swim by without noticing! 🐬 #Dolphins are intelligent, social animals that play an important role in healthy ocean ecosystems. We can help protect them by reducing plastic pollution & respecting their space on the water. #ProtectWhatYouLove

#whalewednesday Blue whales get all the attention, but fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) are nearly as large - a maximum size of 85-90 feet (26-27 meters). This "little" 63 foot (19 m) skeleton is on display in the atrium at @nhm.org and was "collected" in 1926 at a whaling station in Humboldt Co.

Bigg's Killer Whales of Vargas Island. Read the full story here: buff.ly/PX90AhV Photo by Marcie This is an encounter from 2020 #WhaleTales

Bigg's (Transient) and Resident's at the Beginning of the Season! Read the full story here: buff.ly/aLbXDND Photo by Gary This is an encounter from 2018 #WhaleTales

🐋 #whale A sighting of an #albino #bluewhale has been reported near #LoretoBay in #Mexico Rare Blue Whale with Albinism Spotted in National Park in Unprecedented Milestone share.google/x9N7PaV5x75t...

📢 SURVEY: Do you use - or have you ever used - drones in marine mammal research? 🐳🐋If so, please complete our short survey and help us map the growing range of ways UAVs are being used around the world for marine mammal monitoring and research: app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/uhi/drones...

You’ve seen the map, but here is another look at our February orca sightings stats throughout the Salish Sea. What do you make of the drop in Bigg's killer whale sightings last month? Are we returning to the "new normal" after 2 boom years, or might this decline continue throughout 2026? #whalesky

J Pod and Bigg's Double Header. Read the full story here: buff.ly/2WMhK7k Photo by Skylar This is an encounter from 2019 #WhaleTales

Your regular reminder that a giraffe is more closely related to a humpback whale, than it is related to a lion.

hurray!!!

It's #DolphinAwarenessMonth! Although we tend to picture the ocean when we think of dolphins, there are currently thousands of dolphins swimming in major river systems in both South America and Asia.

Encounters with Humpback Dolphins. Read the full story here: buff.ly/qxHN0Cb Photo by Raggy Charters This is an encounter from 2024 #WhaleTales

The trials we go through to see whales🐳 Listen to Tom's full whale tale in our latest episode! #WhaleTales #WhaleTalesPodcast @guianadolphin.bsky.social

Killer Whales certainly know the value of the “woman’s” perspective. They are one of the only species on Earth who’s females continue to live once they are no longer able to reproduce. This is thought to be because of the key role the elder females play in leading their social groups.

Have you checked our our Naming of Things blog series? We take a deep dive (pun intended!) on the names of certain cetaceans - check out this one on Humpback Whales vs Humpback Dolphins! buff.ly/3xRkKkg #WhaleTales #DolphinAwarenessMonth

Here is our February 2026 Salish Sea killer whale sightings map, compiling orca reports from across the region. We had 43 Bigg's killer whale sightings, a drop of more than 50% compared to February 2025! Read our full monthly summary here: www.orcabehaviorinstitute.org/sightings-ma...

The New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life aerial survey team spotted three endangered blue whales on consecutive days over the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument and southern New England waters! Read more:

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A New Bigg's Calf! Read the full story here: buff.ly/497i4yN Photo by @tomflip.bsky.social This is an encounter from 2024 #WhaleTales #Biggs #storytelling #GetOnABoat

Feeding Frenzy. Read the full story here: buff.ly/8LJPrNW Photo by krisztinabalotay / @orca.channel This is an encounter from 2025 #WhaleTales

And you think *you* take a lot of photos 🤯😂 Shout out to Happywhale for helping tom out with his Guiana Dolphin photo id project! Photos: Tom Cezimbra, ECoMAR-UFRJ Listen to our latest episode wherever you get your podcasts. #WhaleTales #WhaleTalesPodcast @guianadolphin.bsky.social

Orca Play with Sunfish. Read the full story here: buff.ly/Ca5MWpa Photo by Whale Watch Western Australia This is an encounter from 2020

🧪🌊🦑🐳 #WhaleWednesday #AlaskaSky

It. Is. Us. #repost #WhaleTalesPodcast #WhaleWednesday #WhaleTales

Winter Whale Watching Iceland. Read the full story here: buff.ly/zlMBziL Photo by Láki Tours This is an encounter from 2020 #WhaleTales

Swimming in Pink. Read the full story here: buff.ly/2fdShHk Photo by Krisztina This is an encounter from 2025 #WhaleTales #orca

A Bucket List Species! Read the full story here: buff.ly/3qHKQ5Q Photo by Sanne This is an encounter from 2022 #WhaleTales #BeakedWhales

Did you know the Salish Sea is home to over 11,200 harbor porpoises? These chubby beacons of hope are a true conservation success story! PacMam has just released a new storymap. Dive in and discover how we use photo identification to track individuals, and more! www.pacmam.org/storymap

The ocean covers 70% of our planet and teems with life; some still waiting to be discovered. Countless creatures rely on ocean habitats to survive (yes, that includes us!) On World Wildlife Day, we celebrate the incredible life beneath the waves & the vital role the ocean plays in all our lives.

Over the weekend, the T36/T36B and T99 matrilines of Bigg's (mammal-hunting) killer whales paid the area a visit. Here they are in front of Anacortes, WA before continuing south into Puget Sound near Tacoma. 📷: Sam Murphy, Island Adventures Whale Watching

In our latest episode Tom shares one of the simplest ways we can help marine life and the world around us. Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts. #WhaleTales #WhaleTalesPodcast @guianadolphin.bsky.social

Close Encounters with Wild Orca. Read the full story here: buff.ly/4hKGLWq Photo by Whale Watch Western Australia⁠ This is an encounter from 2020 #WhaleTales #KillerWhale #DolphinAwarenessMonth

Sounding Whale – Labrador Sea David Blackwood 1998

Epic Encounter with Hourglass Dolphins! Read the full story here: buff.ly/iHDJLR2 Video by Josh This is an encounter from 2024 #WhaleTales #DolphinAwarenessMonth #HourglassDolphins

Happy Dolphin Awareness Month Storytellers! Spread the love and read all of our dolphin WhaleTales by clicking the “Dolphin” category of our menu🐬 buff.ly/3qFSag4

A Dolphin Hunt. Read the full story here: buff.ly/HdH8a5K Photo by Brittany This is an encounter from 2025 #WhaleTales

Under the Polar Night. Read the full story here: buff.ly/wLTKKD8 Photo by Krisztina This is an encounter from 2025 #WhaleTales #KillerWhale

Humpback Mugging. Read the full story here: buff.ly/ZkIirI4 Photo by Danielle #WhaleTales #humpback

It's Fun Fact Friday! Have you heard of Cookie Cutter Sharks? The scars these sharks make on whales (like humpbacks) show us just how far these animals travel throughout the year. Photos: Bryde's Whale by Tony Wu, Blue Whale by Joey Weir, Humpback by Pedro López Suárez #WhaleTales

With J Pod making a recent appearance in central Puget Sound, we thought it would be fun to look back and share a moment from an encounter we had with them (and J62) a year ago on Feb 20, 2025 at Cattle Point (San Juan Island). Enjoy this short clip recorded by Jason! (full video link in comments)

Just boops for today 😎

Killer Whales Mating. Read the full story here: buff.ly/3af4hIL Photo by Whale Watch Western Australia This is an encounter from 2020 #WhaleTales #KillerWhale

#Repost from one of our Storytellers, Malgosia, from her vacation in Alaska. ⁠ "Even on vacation I save marine animals’ lives. But seriously people?! This started as “hey, is that a fishing line?” I must have pulled 50m of it, just left behind, twined partly on the dock, partly left in water! Ugh"