2026 Field Guide
This Field Guide features 271 individuals from multiple matrilines, along with some of their closest associates.
We have arranged this Field Guide primarily in order of their individual ID designations. We hope that this Field
Guide will be used by members of the public as a helpful resource to aid with killer whale identification and to
encourage observers to report sighting information to support our ongoing research efforts. We hope this
resource will help you better understand and love the killer whales that we are trying so hard to protect!
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2023 Field Guide
Our CKWP team has created a new and expanded field guide that includes 73 of the Bigg's killer whales in our population, for citizen scientists of all ages! You can use this field guide to ID well-known killer whales seen in Monterey Bay, and to learn more about each pod and their unique matriarchies (family relationships). We are so excited to share the detailed knowledge gained from over 35 years of field research.
Hard copies will be available online and in selected shops soon!
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2023 Killer Whale Field Guide Update: We detected some technical issues with the downloaded version of our Killer Whale 2023 Field Guide - which has now been resolved!
The team at CKWP created a sample photo ID guide available for citizen scientists of all ages to ID well-known killer whales seen in Monterey Bay and to learn more about each pod and their unique matriarchies.
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This guide focuses on the most frequently seen orca families during the springtime. This is a sample field guide. The completed version will be available by the end of the year.
