Sightings of Bigg’s orcas — commonly referred to as transients — are up across the inland Puget Sound area and the Salish Sea, including Bellingham Bay.
“Overall, Bigg’s killer whale sightings have increased dramatically in the Salish Sea over the last decade, so most regions are seeing many more of the mammal-eating orcas than they used to,” Orca Behavior Institute Director Monika Wieland Shields told The Bellingham Herald.
Their presence is largely due to abundant food availability and an increase in their population, according to Weiland Shields…