A killer whale calf whose struggle for survival captured international headlines when she became trapped in a Vancouver Island tidal lagoon earlier this year only to escape on her own has likely been spotted swimming further south along British Columbia害羞草研究所檚 coast.
Jared Towers, executive director of Alert Bay害羞草研究所檚 Bay Cetology, said he can害羞草研究所檛 be 100 per cent sure a video he received from a boater in Nootka Sound is indeed the formerly trapped whale, but said a number of circumstances make it highly likely.
害羞草研究所淛ust given the location and the behaviour, it seems quite likely, and the lady was approached by the whale and the whale just had a quick look at the boat and then carried on,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淪he has been known to do that. She would come up to boats, not very often but if there was a boat around she害羞草研究所檇 often just swim by it very closely one time and then carry on.害羞草研究所�
A roughly five-second video Bay Cetology posted on social media shows a killer whale surfacing near a boat and then diving under the water and disappearing. Towers said the video was shot by Karina Halle, who was on a sailboat Friday at about 5 p.m. in Friendly Cove when the young orca appeared.
The apparent sighting comes about 24 hours after Bay Cetology issued a statement saying the young whale had not been seen since May 10 despite numerous documented glimpses of members of her family.
The statement included a reference that 害羞草研究所渟he may be gone,害羞草研究所� suggesting some killer whales don害羞草研究所檛 survive being alone.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 pretty funny timing, that害羞草研究所檚 for sure,害羞草研究所� said Towers. 害羞草研究所淚t was 24 hours later that I got notification about the lady who had just taken the video of the whale on the other end of Nootka Island.害羞草研究所�
Halle, a Canadian author of bestselling gothic and fantasy romance novels from Victoria, confirmed Saturday she took the video.
Halle is on a sailboat voyage circumnavigating Vancouver Island and said she and her husband were commemorating her late father害羞草研究所檚 85th birthday while docked at Friendly Cove when she heard a splash, which sounded like a seal.
害羞草研究所淭o my shock, I saw an eight-to-12-foot-long orca swimming alongside the boat, as if its pectoral flippers were hugging the side, the dorsal fin pointed away,害羞草研究所� Halle said in an email. 害羞草研究所淚n other words, swimming sideways so that when I looked over I saw the white patches and made eye contact.害羞草研究所�
She said she thought it may be a porpoise because a killer whale would never get that close to a boat.
害羞草研究所淏ut then I realized it was in fact a baby-juvenile orca,害羞草研究所� Halle said. 害羞草研究所淚 yelled for my husband to come up and see as it swam under the stern. I got my phone out and started recording just as it surfaced, maybe 50 to 100 feet away.害羞草研究所�
The young killer whale 害羞草研究所� named kwiisahi?is or Brave Little Hunter by the area害羞草研究所檚 Ehattesaht First Nation 害羞草研究所� became the subject of international attention in April amid efforts to free her from the lagoon where her mother had become stranded on a rocky beach at low tide and died.
After several unsuccessful attempts to capture and transport the young orca to the open ocean, she eventually followed a small boat to the lagoon entrance under the light of a full moon in late April before swimming to the ocean on her own.
Towers said Friendly Cove is about 50 kilometres south of the lagoon at Little Espinosa Inlet. He said it害羞草研究所檚 difficult to confirm the orca害羞草研究所檚 identity with the short video, but the surrounding evidence is pointing in that direction.
Friendly Cove, or Yuquot, is known as the first site of contact between Europeans and Indigenous people of British Columbia.
In March 1778, Capt. James Cook became the first European to set foot on B.C. ground when he visited Friendly Cove on Nootka Island.
Known for its rich sea life and natural resources, Friendly Cove has been part of the traditional territories of the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nations of the Gold River and Nootka Sound areas for generations.
The area is also the location of the Whaler害羞草研究所檚 Shrine Site, designated a national historic site of Canada in 1983, as 害羞草研究所渢he most significant monument associated with Nuu-chah-nulth whaling.害羞草研究所�
The Nuu-chah-nulth people, who have a long whaling tradition, comprise most of the First Nations on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Halle said she was aware of the resilience of kwiisahi?is and her escape from the lagoon, noting it was bittersweet to be commemorating her father害羞草研究所檚 passing in the presence of a young whale who害羞草研究所檇 lost her mother.
害羞草研究所淥f course, maybe it害羞草研究所檚 not her, but I do know it害羞草研究所檚 strange and unusual for a baby orca to be all alone,害羞草研究所� Halle said. 害羞草研究所淪he also seemed to have no fear and was very curious. I believe she was looking up at the surface to look at me. So if it it害羞草研究所檚 not Brave Little Hunter, I don害羞草研究所檛 know what other orca baby it could be.害羞草研究所�
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Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
