Who We Are

The Orca Behavior Institute is a non-profit whale research organization based on San Juan Island, Washington. Founded in 2015, OBI was created by a small group of passionate community scientists.
OBI crew waving from a small motorboat named Lea Marie on a calm body of water near a forested shoreline.

Our History

The Orca Behavior Institute was initially inspired by a desire to help document what we realized were some rapidly changing patterns among orca behaviors in the Salish Sea. Below we summarize some of our main research questions as well as our core values when it comes to scientific research.Our guiding principles were defined by our founders and aim to codify our core values into clear statements that will help direct our growth and decision making as an organization.
2015
OBI Was Fouded
K26 southern resident Orca whale spyhopping in calm ocean waters with mountains blurred in the background.
2016
OBI 2016
K26 southern resident Orca whale spyhopping in calm ocean waters with mountains blurred in the background.
2017
OBI 2017
An orca whale breaching the calm ocean surface with its white and black body partially out of the water and a distant mountain range under a clear sky in the background.
2018
OBI 2018
An orca whale breaching the calm ocean surface with its white and black body partially out of the water and a distant mountain range under a clear sky in the background.
2019
2019
An orca whale breaching the calm ocean surface with its white and black body partially out of the water and a distant mountain range under a clear sky in the background.
2020
OBI 2020
An orca whale breaching the calm ocean surface with its white and black body partially out of the water and a distant mountain range under a clear sky in the background.
2021
OBI 2021
An orca whale breaching the calm ocean surface with its white and black body partially out of the water and a distant mountain range under a clear sky in the background.
2022
OBI 2022
An orca whale breaching the calm ocean surface with its white and black body partially out of the water and a distant mountain range under a clear sky in the background.
2023
OBI 2023
An orca whale breaching the calm ocean surface with its white and black body partially out of the water and a distant mountain range under a clear sky in the background.
2024
Whale University
Monika W. Shields in the middle, a co-founder of the Orca Behavior Institute, participating in one of the Bigg's killer whale class boat trips.
2025
OBI 2025
An orca whale breaching the calm ocean surface with its white and black body partially out of the water and a distant mountain range under a clear sky in the background.
2026
OBI Art For Orcas
An orca whale breaching the calm ocean surface with its white and black body partially out of the water and a distant mountain range under a clear sky in the background.

More Info

The Orca Behavior Institute was initially inspired by a desire to help document what we realized were some rapidly changing patterns among orca behaviors in the Salish Sea. Below we summarize some of our main research questions as well as our core values when it comes to scientific research.Our guiding principles were defined by our founders and aim to codify our core values into clear statements that will help direct our growth and decision making as an organization.