'It's really exciting': Rare white orca spotted on northern Vancouver Island
Orca sightings on Vancouver Island aren't rare, but they're always thrilling, and that was especially true for a group of aquaculture workers on the North Island this week.
Mike Dobbs was one of a dozen Mowi Canada employees mesmerized by a rare white orca and its mother. The cetaceans had come extremely close to shore in Beaver Cove, near the village of Telegraph Cove, B.C.
"We didn’t understand what the white whale was," Dobbs said. "We didn’t recognize it as an orca at first. (Our) first concern and (the) first alarming thing was that they were on the beach."
Researchers have named the white whale "Frostbite." The animal was born in 2019, and is part of a group of outer coast transient killer whales never spotted in B.C. before, according to researcher Josh McInnes.
"It’s not unexpected to see these groups (of whales) hunting around harbour seal haulouts or sea lion haulouts, but for this particular group of whales who spend most of their time in deep waters off of California or Oregon, we don’t see them in close proximity to land," McInnes said.
He said the white calf and its mother are included in a new catalogue of 155 whales he has spent the last six years compiling.
"We’ve never had a report of (these two) outside of California," he said. "This showed an interesting trend for a new mother. She might just be exploring, getting to know other transient groups for potential mating purposes … It’s really exciting."
McInnes said the Beaver Cove sighting was important and rare, something that didn't occur to Dobbs as he was recording it.
"The gravity of what I’d witnessed didn’t hit me until much later that evening when I was decompressing and people were reaching out to me," Dobbs said.
According to McInnes, Frostbite, its mother and the rest of the outer coast transients are expected to be back on their way to California soon.
With files from CTV News Vancouver Island's Gord Kurbis
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.