Caught on cam: Orcas swim through middle of Vancouver Island marina

A group of transient orcas, or Bigg's killer whales, came startlingly close to moored boats in Comox, B.C. this weekend, which thrilled onlookers on the docks.

Five orcas were spotted swimming in the Comox Marina on Sunday, according to Nicky Smiley, who runs the group Comox Valley Wildlife Sightings (CVWS) with her daughter, Ella.

Smiley says the pair keeps up to date with orca sightings up and down eastern Vancouver Island.

They were excited to see the orcas enter Comox Bay around 7:39 p.m., before making their way to the Royston shipwrecks, and then lastly the marina.

"They dove and then resurfaced right in the dock beside the moored boats," said Smiley on Monday.

She says the CVWS always tries to give group members a heads up on where and when to see orcas from land.

The group also works to identify each orca it sees, and shares the information with researchers.

Smiley says the five orcas seen Sunday included T049A1 – nicknamed Noah – his aunt T049B, and his cousins, T049B2, T049B3, and T049B4.

The wildlife enthusiast says that Noah has been seen diving in the docks of French Creek Marina, near Parksville, B.C.

She adds that much of the coast between the two communities is a "haul-out for seals," meaning an area where the animals congregate and leave the water, "so [it's] probably an easy supper."

Unlike the critically endangered southern resident killer whale, transient orcas feed on marine mammals, such as seals and sea lions.