Amateur whale watchers on Canada's west coast were amazed to see orcas rubbing the shore bottom.
Photo Credit: Chris Wilton/YouTube

Rare video of orca whale belly-rub

Amateur whale watchers have captured rare footage of at least four orcas rubbing their bellies on the smooth stones of Canada’s Pacific shoreline.

Scientists are not sure why these whales do this. The behaviour is almost unique to northern resident orca whales and is perhaps a learned habit passed down through generations.

null
At least four orcas were seen close to shore, taking turns rubbing the smooth stones. © Chris Wilton/YouTube

At least four orcas can be seen in the video circling the beach and taking turns swimming up on the rocks near Campbell River in the Discovery Islands of British Columbia.

“Holy, moley,” says one of the amateur whale watchers as an orca manoeuvres in close just metres away and rubs itself along the bottom. “This is crazy…probably feels like a nice massage.”

Northern resident orcas number about 250 and are listed as threatened on Canada’s species at risk list.

Categories: Environment & Animal Life
Tags:

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.