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\nBritish Columbia residents are enjoying watching killer whales come close to shore and rub their bellies on rocksThe behavior is specific to Northern Resident killer whales, who live in the northeastern part of the North Pacific OceanExperts call the behavior “beach rubbing”<\/p>\n
Residents and visitors in British Columbia have been experiencing a rare sight thanks to a pod of killer whales.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Ryan Chilibeck, who lives in Gibsons, across Howe Sound from West Vancouver, spoke to CBC News<\/a> on Tuesday, Jan. 6, and shared a recent observation regarding the orcas he’s seen near the shore.\n<\/p>\n The man told the outlet that on Jan. 2, he spotted a group of Northern Resident killer whales, which live exclusively in the northeastern part of the North Pacific Ocean, incredibly close to the shore, rubbing their bellies on the rocks.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n “Luckily enough, I just got to the right place at the right time and got an amazing show,” Chilibeck told the news station of his hurried trip.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Stock photo of an orca in British Columbia.<\/p>\n AscentXmedia\/Getty<\/p>\n “I picked my jaw up off the ground, it was once-in-a-lifetime type of stuff,” Chilibeck, who described himself as “probably the world’s No. 1 orca fan,” added of the sight.\n<\/p>\n Jared Towers, the executive director of Bay Cetology, a research institute in Alert Bay, British Columbia, told the outlet that the group of orcas rubbing their bellies on the rocks comes from the A5 pod, which is composed of three different families.\n<\/p>\n He added that only Northern Resident Killer Whales (NRKW) engage in this behavior.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n “Amongst all the different killer whale populations around the world, there’s only a couple that have been observed doing this behavior,” Towers said.\n<\/p>\n “It’s very specialized, very unique, it’s not that common,” the executive director added.\n<\/p>\n However, the phenomenon is not new.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n An archived live cam from Hanson Island in British Columbia, Canada, posted by Explore Oceans<\/a> one year ago, shows orcas taking “part in the unique behavior called ‘beach rubbing.'”\n<\/p>\n