Hydrophone recordings of Bigg's killer whales (orcas) in the northeast Pacific and Salish Sea. Previously known as transient orcas, the Bigg's orcas have been renamed in honour of Dr. Michael Bigg, who was one of the first to research wild orcas and established modern photo-identification techniques. They are slightly larger than Resident orcas. 

Bigg's orcas rarely vocalize (except during or after a hunt), and their swimming patterns are often erratic. They rarely use echolocation, although they sometimes emit single clicks, called cryptic clicks.

Cover art photo by Kristen Kanes.

Bigg's Orcas (Killer Whales)

A collection of recordings of calls and other vocalizations by humpback whales captured by Ocean Networks Canada hydrophones in the northeast Pacific. All humpback whales vocalize, making a variety of sounds called wops, grunts, upsweeps, downsweeps, whistles, etc. Male humpback whales combine their vocalizations into complex patterns that form songs up to half an hour long, which they repeat for hours or days. All humpback whales in a particular ocean region sing the same song, which changes from year to year. <a href="http://www.oceannetworks.ca/humpback-whales">Learn more about humpback whales</a>.

Humpback Whale Recordings

Recordings of grey whales and sei whales by Ocean Networks Canada hydrophones in the northeast Pacific and Salish Sea. Learn more about <a href="http://www.oceannetworks.ca/grey-whales">grey whales</a>, <a href="http://www.oceannetworks.ca/sei-whales">sei whales</a> and <a href="http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/minkewhale.htm">minke whales</a>.

Grey, Fin and Minke Whale Sounds

Recordings of sperm whales captured by Ocean Networks Canada hydrophones in the Northeast Pacific and Salish Sea. (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/barathieu/7277953560/in/photostream/">Whale photo by G. Barathieu</a>.)

Sperm Whale Sounds

Recordings made by hydrophones and seismometers of very low-frequency calls by Blue and Fin whales.

Blue and Fin Whale Sounds

Names of common animals in the Hul̓q̓umín̓um̓ language.

Shes (sealion)

S’ax̌wa’ (clam)

Q̓ullhánumucun (orca)

Q̓am’ (bull Kelp)

Ha’put (deer)

12 November 2010: The clip features fin whale calls (sped up 15x) which were detected by a seismometer. The whale stopped calling when the rumbles of a distant earthquake in Alaska's Aleutian Islands were detected. The magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurred in the Fox Islands at 9:46 UTC, 12 Nov 2010.

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Fin Whale Calls In Seismic Data

1 August 2012: A Humpback whale's non-song signals were recorded by on Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone deployed in Folger Passage at a depth of 95m. Original filename: ICLISTENHF1205_20120801T122409.498Z_20120801T122909.513Z

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Humpback Whale Calls

12 July 2013: These sperm whale echolocation clicks were recorded by an Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone, located in Barkley Canyon at a depth of 392m. Sperm whales are frequently recorded at this location.

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Original filename: ICLISTENHF1251_20130712T154642.444Z_20130712T155142.388Z

Sperm Whales Echolocating

Track created by ONC Artist in Residence Colin Malloy as part of the Spring 2022 Exquisite Corpse project

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As Above, So Below by Colin Malloy

Original composition by Colin Malloy created for the Spring 2022 Exquisite Corpse project.

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Raising, by Colin Malloy

Our Folger Deep hydrophone picked up this unusual orca vocalization event on March 13, 2023. Identified as Bigg’s orcas (aka Transient orcas), they were heard calling for an hour and a half! This is unusual because they are typically silent to avoid alerting their prey - seals, sea lions, and other whales. To further this mystery, these Bigg’s orcas were using “aberrant” calls, a highly modified version of their typical calls. Aberrant calls are associated with socialization in resident orcas so we’re not quite sure what this means for Bigg’s orcas!

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Original file: ICLISTENHF1266_20230313T025000.084Z_20230313T025500.084Z-OD.WAV

Bigg's orcas at Folger Passage

30 Jan. 2014: This very clear recording was selected from over 40 minutes of vocalizations made by of a group of inner coast Biggs orcas near the Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone deployed at 105m depth at our Folger Deep node. Biggs orcas are usually silent, so such a long bout of vocal activity is rare.  Original filename: ICLISTENHF1253_20140130T081956.935Z_20140130T082456.939Z

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Clear Recording of Inner Coast Biggs Killer Whales

5 April 2012: These Biggs orca calls were recorded by the IOS high frequency hydrophone array deployed at a depth of 300m at Central Straight of Georgia. The hydrophone's automatic gain control, which adjust the gain in response to how loud the sounds are, causes this recording to sound choppy. Original filename: IOS3HYDARR01_20120405T180222.000Z_20120405T180222.000Z

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Inner Coast Biggs Killer Whales in the Strait of Georgia

01 February 2012: A rare recording of inner coast Biggs orcas hunting. The loud cracks are either breaching or cavitation from the tail flukes as the Biggs killer whales accelerate towards their prey, which is thought to possibly be a sea lion or a baleen whale. This recording was captured by a Naxys high frequency hydrophone deployed at a depth of 96m at our Folger Deep node. Original filename: NAXYS_02345_P008_20120201T171905.255Z_20120201T171905.255Z

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Inner Coast Biggs Killer Whales Attacking

31 January 2011: This recording of inner coast Biggs orcas was captured by a high frequency Naxys hydrophone deployed at a depth of 397m at Barkley Canyon Upper Slope. Original filename: NAXYS_HYD_P004_20110131T071116.000Z_20110131T071116.000Z

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Inner Coast Biggs Killer Whales at Folger Deep

17 October 2013: A singing blue whale was recorded by an Ocean Sonics icListen low frequency hydrophone deployed at 2662m depth in Cascadia Basin. The audio has been sped up by a factor of 10 to make it audible, as blue whale sounds are subsonic(below the range of human hearing). Original filename: ICLISTENLF224_20131017T223012.326Z_20131017T223512.276Z

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Blue Whale Song

18 October 2013: This blue whale song was recorded by an Ocean Sonics icListen low frequency hydrophone at 2662m depth in Cascadia Basin. The audio has been sped up by a factor of 10 to make it audible, as blue whale vocalizations are subsonic (below the range of human hearing). Original filename: ICLISTENLF224_20131018T230904.758Z_20131018T231904.752Z

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Blue Whale in Cascadia Basin

9 November 2013: This fin whale song segment was recorded by an Ocean Sonics icListen low frequency hydrophone in Cascadia Basin. Fin whale vocalizations are very common at this location. This recording was sped up by a factor of 10 to make the calls audible to the human ear.  Original filename: ICLISTENLF224_20131109T204938.479Z_20131109T205938.532Z

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Fin Whale in Cascadia Basin

25 March 2011: Grey whale vocalizations are recorded very rarely outside of their California breeding grounds. These grey whale calls were recorded by a high frequency Naxys hydrophone deployed at a depth of 100m at our Folger Deep node. 

Learn more about grey whales at http://www.oceannetworks.ca/

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Original filename: NAXYS_HYD_P004_20110325T091116.526Z_20110325T091116.526Z

Three Grey Whale Vocalizations

2 August 2013: This recording is of a sperm whale coda - a patterned series of clicks used by sperm whales to communicate with one another. This recording was captured by an Ocean Sonics icListen  high frequency hydrophone deployed at Barkley Canyon Upper Slope at a depth of 392 m. 

For more cool sounds check out ONC's website http://www.oceannetworks.ca
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Original filename: ICLISTENHF1251_20130802T025142.935Z_20130802T025642.941Z

Sperm Whale Coda

19 October 2013: This segment of a humpback whale's song was recorded by an Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone, located on the continental slope above Barkley Canyon at a depth of 392m. Original filename: ICLISTENHF1251_20130802T025142.935Z_20130802T025642.941Z

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Segment of a Humpback Whale Song

16 September 2013: This recording of humpback whale song and sperm whale echolocation clicks was captured by an Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone, deployed in Barkley Canyon at 392m depth. The sperm whale echolocation clicks become more frequent as the whale approaches its target. 

www.oceannetworks.ca
Original filename: ICLISTENHF1251_20130916T101639.538Z_20130916T102139.543Z

Humpback Songs with Sperm Whale Clicks

15 September 2013: This recording of humpback whale song and Pacific white-sided dolphins was captured by an Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone deployed at a depth of 392m in Barkley Canyon. Original track filename: ICLISTENHF1251_20130915T213139.395Z_20130915T213639.399Z

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Humpback Song with Dolphin Calls

2 August 2013: The call in this clip was made by an outer coast Biggs orca, also known as an "unknown." The outer coast Biggs orcas are not encountered frequently, and little is known about them at this time. This recording was captured by on Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone deployed at Barkley Canyon Upper Slope at a depth of 392 m. 

www.oceannetworks.ca

Original filename: ICLISTENHF1251_20130802T081143.010Z_20130802T081643.015Z

Outer Coast Biggs Killer Whales

28 June 2013: This recording of Pacific white-sided dolphin chatter and sperm whale echolocation clicks was captured by an Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone, located in Barkley Canyon at a depth of 392m. Original filename: ICLISTENHF1251_20130628T231138.849Z_20130628T231638.793Z

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Pacific White-sided Dolphins and Sperm Whales

19 July 2012: A couple of seismic surveying shots from air guns followed by Pacific white-sided dolphin vocalizations. The seismic shots are believed to be from the R/V Langseth. This recording was captured by a high frequency Naxys hydrophone deployed at a depth of approximately 393m at Barkley Canyon Upper Slope. Original filename: NAXYS_HYD_052_20120719T100835.693Z_20120719T101335.688Z

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Air Gun Blasts with Dolphin Chatter

Warning: the initial implosion and first two echos are very LOUD!
22 July 2013: Glass flotation spheres imploded in Cascadia Basin. This was recorded by an Ocean Sonics icListen low frequency hydrophone deployed at 2662m depth at our Cascadia Basin node. Original filename: ICLISTENLF224_20130722T080912.065Z_20130722T081412.090Z

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Implosion with 10 Echoes

1 November 2013: Ice cracks as a snowmobile travels over the ice near our Cambridge Bay hydrophone. The recording was captured by an Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone deployed at 7.6m depth in Cambridge Bay. Original filename: ICLISTENHF1252_20131101T201908.974Z_20131101T202405.243Z

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Snowmobile on Ice

4 February 2012: These Northern resident G-clan, G sub-clan killer whale calls were recorded by a Naxys high frequency hydrophone deployed at a depth of approximately 96m at our Folger Deep node. A sea lion can also be heard in this recording. Original filename: NAXYS_02345_P008_20120204T205657.575Z_20120204T205657.575Z

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Northern Resident Killer Whales with Pinneped Sounds

16 January 2012: These southern resident killer whale J-Pod calls were recorded by the IOS high frequency hydrophone array deployed at a depth of 170m in Eastern Straight of Georgia. The hydrophone's automatic gain control, which adjust the gain in response to how loud the sounds are, causes this recording to sound choppy.

Learn more about British Columbia's orcas at http://www.oceannetworks.ca

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Original filename: IOS3HYDARR02_20120116T030313.000Z_20120116T030313.000Z

Southern Resident Killer Whale J-Pod in Eastern Strait of Georgia

6 December 2011: These southern resident killer whale J-Pod calls were recorded by the IOS high frequency hydrophone array deployed at a depth of 300m at Central Straight of Georgia. The hydrophone's automatic gain control, which adjust the gain in response to how loud the sounds are, causes this recording to sound choppy.

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Original filename: IOS3HYDARR01_20111206T123245.000Z_20111206T123245.000Z

Repeated Southern Resident Killer Whale J-Pod Calls

2 June 2013: L-pod is the largest Southern Resident killer whale pod. There are many call types unique to this pod, though their dialect has some overlap with K and J pods. These calls were recorded by our Ocean Sonics icListen high-frequency hydrophone in Folger Passage at a depth of 105 m. 

Learn more about British Columbia's orcas at http://www.oceannetworks.ca/

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Original filename: ICLISTENHF1253_20130602T115548.844Z_20130602T120048.848Z

Southern Resident Killer Whale L-Pod Calls (1 of 2)

7 September 2013: This may sound familiar, as California sea lions are the most commonly kept pinnipeds in aquaria and marine theme parks. This clip was recorded by an Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone deployed in Folger Passage at a depth of 105 m.

For more cool videos check out ONC's website http://www.oceannetworks.ca

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Original filename: ICLISTENHF1253_20130907T101117.306Z_20130907T101617.311Z

California Sea Lions Barking

9 Jan. 2014: This is the sound of ice cracking in the frozen water above our instrument platform in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. The recording was captured by our Ocean Sonics icListen HF hydrophone deployed at Cambridge Bay at a depth of 7.6 m. 

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Original filename: ICLISTENHF1252_20140109T104439.522Z_20140109T104939.467Z

Ice Cracking in Cambridge Bay

This clip was recorded on the day in early July 2019, when continuous sea ice melted and broke apart. Ice usually begins growing in October and continues getting thicker until late June, when weather turns warm and the ice melts rapidly. In 2019, the ice was about 2 m thick in early June, then it gradually melted to a thickness of about 75 cm on July 1st 2019. On July 2nd, the thickness dropped to zero. We might imagine the prominent sound in this clip to be ice cracking and turning over at the sea surface.

Below is a still frame from the video time lapse on that day. You can see the water in the bay is a mixture of open water and floating ice. You can watch the full day's time lapse video here: https://data.oceannetworks.ca/SeaTube?resourceTypeId=1000&resourceId=526&diveId=72284900&time=2019-07-01T00:00:53.000Z

Ice Breaking up in Cambridge Bay

24 October 2014: These minke whale calls were recorded by a Naxys high frequency hydrophone located at 2660m depth in Cascadia Basin. The whales vocalized for over an hour. Most calls were very faint. The recording has been processed to enhance the calls.

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Original filename: NAXYS HYD 052 20141024T215036.730Z 20141024T215536.730Z

Minke Whale Calls in Cascadia Basin

21 March 2015: These grey whale vocalizations were recorded during the spring northward migration, by an Ocean Sonics icListen high frequency hydrophone deployed at Ocean Networks Canada's Folger Deep node at 98 m depth.

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Original filename: ICLISTENHF1266 20150321T091211.859Z 20150321T091711.866Z

Grey Whale at Folger Passage

Radio interview from February 21, 2025 on CBC All Points West.

All Points West – 4.7 magnitude earthquake near Sechelt (ONC radio interview)

*You may need to use external speakers or headphones to hear these sounds*
28 Sept 2015: The 18m Harken 10 tug boat sinking in the Strait of Georgia, as heard by an Ocean Sonics icListen HF hydrophone at 300m depth at our Central Strait of Georgia node. The loud, low bangs heard in this recording are the sounds of air-filled spaces on the vessel imploding under the increasing pressure as it sinks deeper into the strait. The reason the vessel sank is not yet known.  

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Original filename: ICLISTENHF1354 20150928T121202.000Z 20150928T121701.996Z

Tug boat sinking in Strait of Georgia

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is a world-leading research and ocean observing facility hosted and owned by the University of Victoria, and managed by the not-for profit ONC Society. ONC operates unparalleled observatories in the deep ocean and coastal waters of Canada’s three coasts–the Arctic, the Pacific and the Atlantic–gathering biological, chemical, geological and physical data to drive solutions for science, industry and society.

Ocean Networks Canada

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