People were awestruck after witnessing a killer whale swim backwards off West Vancouver.
Allison MacGillivary and her boyfriend always keep a close eye on a local Facebook group that reports whale sightings. The local community is a flurry with messages whenever marine mammals pass by Howe Sound.
"We’re constantly monitoring the chat, like four times a week," she said. "It’s such a nice little community."
On May 25, her parents came to visit her in North Vancouver from Ontario. She was hopeful they’d get to experience the West Coast wilderness in real life.
MacGillivary looked on the Howe Sound & Sea to Sky chat where someone saw killer whales going by Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver.
They ventured out and found a small area beside the park. Right as they arrived, an orca breached.
"My mom's going crazy," she recalled of her mother's excitement.
Her boyfriend started taking photos and she decided to take some video of the two pods made up of roughly six orcas.
"I was honestly shocked," said MacGillivary.
To her surprise, as she was filming, she captured an orca smoothly swimming backwards near the surface with birds flying forward above it.
"Oh my gosh. It's going backwards. And then my mom in the background says, 'Why is it doing that?'"
She shared her video in the local community Facebook page and confirmed it was not edited.
“It’s definitely not AI. It's 100 per cent real video, just kind of a rare behaviour, I guess,” MacGillivary said.
'Unique behaviour'
Anna Hall, a marine biologist with Sea View Marine Sciences, said the orca’s behaviour is unusual to see, but it does occur.
“This behaviour is one that we attribute to the transient or Bigg's killer whale that occurs on the B.C. coast," said Hall.
Several Bigg’s (transient) killer whales have been known to swim backwards; known as "moonwalking," it indicates hunting and prey sharing.
Killer whale T65A Artemis, a female born in 1986, is well known for moonwalking.
“It is a rather unique behaviour,” said Hall.
She watched the video and said it was great the witness filmed it.
"it is remarkable, just how smooth that backward motion is. You anticipate the forward motion being smooth,” said Hall.
The birds flocking in the frame is also an indication that a kill has been made.
"Sometimes it can be quite audible,” added Hall.
She noted T65A Artemis has displayed this behaviour after killing a harbour porpoise but it’s not clear if it's a technique used to take apart any specific prey type.
MacGillivary could not hear anything and said there was a crowd of 20 people watching the two pods.
"It was so great, especially having my whole family. All of us are just so into nature and wildlife, so sharing that with them was just like the cherry on top of the visit to the West Coast," she said.
