Accessible Travel Guides launched for the Vancouver Island Region - Tourism Vancouver Island

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Bigg’s (Transient) Orcas – The Family of T090 Eagle Bigg’s orcas, also known as transient orcas, are a distinct population of killer whales found along the west coast of North America. Unlike the resident orcas, who primarily feed on fish, Bigg’s orcas are marine mammal hunters. Their diet includes seals, sea lions, porpoises and even small whales. They are highly skilled predators, traveling in small, tightly bonded family groups. One such family is led by T090, known as Eagle, a female born in

Northern Resident Orcas on the Johnstone Strait August 2025 First Nations can be heard singing in the background. "The Song Beneath the Waves" I was born in Alert Bay, on the edge of the sea, where the mist clings to the cedar trees and the ocean speaks in rhythms older than memory. My people are Kwakwaka’wakw, and the killer whale, max’inuxw, is not just a creature of the deep. He is our ancestor, our protector, our storyteller. I remember the first time I saw one. I was a child, standing on th

The language of the Orca. *Sound on - Orca Vocalisations* In the deep fjords and kelp-fringed passages of Northeast Vancouver Island, the Northern Resident orcas speak in voices older than memory. Their calls, squelches, whistles, and pulsed cries, are not random sounds, but ancestral songs passed down through matrilines like sacred heirlooms. Each pod carries its own dialect, a signature woven from generations of echo and experience. Ahlé, a call of greeting. Kéé, a warning. Some sounds are pla