A whale of a time was had by many when a transient male orca made a surprise visit to Victoria’s Inner Harbour.
The 23-year-old killer whale, identified as T049A1 but known as Noah, made a splash in the downtown harbour on Dec. 14.
With a front-row seat to the action onboard her houseboat, Jackie Cowan captured the moment on video.
“My neighbour sent me a text that simply said, ‘Orca’, so I rushed out,” said the former whale-watching tour operator.
In prime position, Cowan and her neighbour watched the whale enter the harbour before it disappeared underwater next to the Delta Hotel.
“It was gone for quite a long time,” said Cowan, who added it took a couple of minutes before the marine visitor resurfaced.
“It most likely went under the Johnson Street Bridge, so we stood and waited … then he came right across in front of us. It was totally exciting … here’s the thing, it never gets dull."
Cowan’s close encounter with Noah comes only two months after she spotted a pod of five orcas near her home.
Visiting the harbour in early October was the family of orphan orca Brave Little Hunter, the famous calf which has been surviving alone in the wild after escaping from a tidal lagoon off northwest Vancouver Island in late April.
“It's fantastic,” said Cowan about her recent sightings. “I can't say enough about how exciting it is.”
Referring to Noah’s harbour visit, Cowan suspects he was “following the food chain,” having spotted a number of seals in the water that same day.
“I personally think it's now that orca’s route,” she says, noting she saw the transient male in the harbour two years ago. “Because he's following the exact same route when he comes in."
