One quick question: Seen any new whales around here lately?

Researchers have been studying killer whales in the Salish Sea for decades, using photo-identification to track individuals over time. Whether they are the fish-eating Residents, or the mammal-eating Bigg’s, also known as Transients, each individual whale in the population receives its own alphanumeric name. 

But rarely, an adult killer whale shows up in the Salish Sea that isn’t in any of the photo-ID catalogues. That’s why three Bigg’s/Transient whales, recently given the names T419, T420, and T421, are causing such a commotion among professional and weekend whale watchers alike. 

We asked marine mammologist Cindy Elliser, associate director of WWU’s Salish Sea Institute about these “new” whales.

Who are these mystery whales of the Salish Sea and where did they come from? 

“We know they are mammal-eaters, but who are they? They have been photographed only once before, in March 2025 in Anchorage – and interestingly that is not a place killer whales are often seen. 

Based on the location of that sighting, it would be plausible they would be from the nearby Gulf of Alaska Bigg’s population. But researchers can use their acoustic calls to determine what population they are from, and so far, there has been no acoustic match, and it looks like they are not from the Gulf of Alaska. So the mystery remains. 

With little information about who these whales are, it is hard to determine why they showed up here. Are they looking for food, social connections, or are they just exploring or lost? Ultimately, we don’t know; we can only document what they do and hope that helps us understand more about them. They have been making the rounds, first sighted in Vancouver Harbor, and just recently seen entering Puget Sound. Interestingly they have been seen associating with our Salish Sea Bigg’s killer whales (something the Residents don’t do). Makes you wonder what our Bigg’s think of these new visitors! 

Now, weird or unusual sightings of marine mammals in the Salish Sea are not uncommon. You might remember the beluga that showed up in Puget Sound in October 2021. Scientists collected environmental DNA (eDNA, collected from seawater) and found it matched animals from the Beaufort Sea and high Arctic (not the closer Cook Inlet, Alaska, animals)!  Or how about the fin whale (who normally inhabits deep, oceanic waters) that showed up in September 2025 and has recently been spotted multiple times in 2026. In past years there have also been bottlenose dolphins from California, and common dolphins from the outer coast (likely California) that have made excursions outside their normal range to visit our local waters. It seems the Salish Sea is a destination spot for some animals, but the ultimate why is still unknown. 

While we know very little about these whales, and why they are here, these types of sightings provide opportunities to learn something new. Perhaps eDNA will help researchers determine their origin, and more photographs from other locations will help us understand where they go and why – will they be seen again here or Alaska, or somewhere else? This is the power of collaboration – sighting networks and shared data help us to piece together the daily lives of long-lived, highly mobile predators like killer whales. Together we may be able to unwrap the mystery of these whales. 

And as with any good science, we may answer one question, only to reveal three more. There is always more to learn – and more marine mammals that appear in unexpected places to challenge what we think is normal.