This is Northern Resident Orca A66 – known to some and named by the Vancouver Aquarium Killer Whale Adoption Program as ‘Surf’. Born in 1996 to A42, this large male orca lives with his maternal pod, the ‘A42s’ in and around BC’s coastal waters. There are not always a lot of sightings of orca around Vancouver Island during the winter, they migrate looking for food, they could be in less frequented inlets and waterways along the BC coast up to SE Alaska and plus there are fewer people out on the water at this time of year so fewer reported sightings occur. However, recently one lucky group of people didn’t have to be on the water to see the A42s as they came to them on the beach. What? I hear you ask. Well, in certain places around the BC coast, northern resident orca like to rub on the pebbles in shallow water and on this particular January day, some people got to witness this, videoed it and kindly shared it for all to see. If you would like to see this exceptional activity click here. Additional information both about this behaviour and other BC coastal marine life can also be found on Jackie Hildering’s great blog site – The Marine Detective.
