Live Strandings of Bigg's Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) Along the West Coast of North America

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are known to live strand in many regions around the world. Some populations regularly and repeatedly do so in pursuit of prey, but this behaviour is otherwise relatively rare. Off the west coast of North America, historical records of live-stranded killer whales indicate that most individuals perished, were euthanized, or were captured for aquariums where they subsequently died. Few details are available on which of the three culturally distinct killer whale ecotypes in this region have been involved in live-stranding events (LSEs) and on the survival of any individuals that were able to unstrand. In this article, we report details on four LSEs since 2002 and, together with previous records, show that all live-stranded killer whales documented in this region during the last four decades have been of the Bigg's ecotype. There was no predominant sex or age class involved in these events, but among the five individuals reported herein, all three adults stranded on sandy shores, whereas both juveniles stranded on rocky outcroppings while hunting harbour seals. Stranded individuals were kept cool and wet by human responders during three of the four ISEs, and efforts were twice made to move the animals off the shore. All individuals survived the LSEs, although one adult male was never seen again. The other four individuals rejoined their respective families soon after becoming unstranded and have been photo-identified with them on numerous occasions since. One adult female that was pregnant when stranded gave birth to a healthy calf several months later. These results indicate that (1) human responses to live-stranded killer whales are not always necessary, but when they are, they can help preserve their lives, family bonds, and culture; and (2) LSEs are a natural risk associated with the foraging ecology of the Bigg's killer whale ecotype.