Orca migrations
Recorded around every ocean, densest where cold currents concentrate prey — from Norway’s winter herring runs to the Pacific Northwest.
See orca dive sites · zoom in and select a glow to open that coast on the dive map
The orca year, in real records
Recorded around every ocean, densest where cold currents concentrate prey — from Norway’s winter herring runs to the Pacific Northwest. The map above animates 18,888 recorded observations of Orcinus orca — CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records accessed through GBIF, binned by calendar month, peaking in July. Sightings are history, not a forecast: they show where people have actually seen this animal, which is strong planning context and never a guarantee.
Where the year peaks
The regions holding the most recorded orca sightings, and the months when each one runs hottest — computed from the same dataset the map animates.
- Alaska & AleutiansMay–Aug4,603 sightingsdive sites here
- California & Pacific NorthwestMar–Oct4,297 sightingsdive sites here
- Antarctic Peninsula & Southern OceanNov–Feb2,992 sightingsdive sites here
- Norway, Iceland & North AtlanticNovember2,975 sightingsdive sites here
- Baja & Pacific MexicoMarch422 sightingsdive sites here