A youtube video of killer whales swimming up close to shore and rubbing their sides on pebbles near Campbell River is going viral.
The footage caught by people on a beach on Hernando Island shows the whales mere feet from the shoreline.
Lance Barrett-Lennard Director of the Cetacean Research Program at the Vancouver Aquarium describes the footage in the video.
He says the Northern Resident orcas are the only killer whales in the world know to engage in this beach rubbing behavior.
Barrett-Lennard explains the behavior known as beach rubbing.
He says researchers have documented a few other beaches in Johnstone Straight where the Orcas come up near the beach.
Barrett-Lennard reminds people to stay back from whales if they are coming up on a beach and watch them quietly.
