{"id":95378,"date":"2026-07-25T03:15:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T06:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/it-was-phenomenal-rare-sighting-of-orca-off-coast-of-cape-breton\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T03:15:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T06:15:51","slug":"it-was-phenomenal-rare-sighting-of-orca-off-coast-of-cape-breton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/it-was-phenomenal-rare-sighting-of-orca-off-coast-of-cape-breton\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It was phenomenal\u2019: Rare sighting of orca off coast of Cape Breton"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Article contentOther people\u2019s videos posted to social media also have thousands of views, showing there is a lot of interest in the solo orca swimming so close to the causeway.Article content\u201cThere\u2019s always a lot of sea life around the causeway right there,\u201d Ferguson said.Article content\u201cObviously, leatherback sea turtles and seals. And, we use the term black fish but they\u2019re porpoises, and the rare dolphin. But I\u2019ve never seen an orca there. It\u2019s kind of strange but it\u2019s absolutely amazing to see.\u201dArticle content Bruce Hatcher, marine biologist and Cape Breton University professor: \u201cIt is unusual (but not unheard of) to see only one animal, as they normally travel in pods (small family groups). That suggests that it might be a young male.\u201d CONTRIBUTEDArticle contentORCAS AROUND NOVA SCOTIAArticle contentMarine biologist Bruce Hatcher said he saw photos of the orca online and confirmed it is \u201cmost definitely\u201d the marine animal.Article contentAlthough not a whale expert, the Cape Breton University professor provided some information about orcas around the Nova Scotia coast.Article content\u201cThis species of toothed whale has at least a 100-year history of sightings in the Northwest Atlantic, but they are rarely sighted. It does appear that the frequency of sightings has increased over the past decade (although I have not seen any data), but that may just be that more people are looking for them,\u201d Hatcher said in an email.Article contentArticle content\u201cIt is unusual (but not unheard of) to see only one animal, as they normally travel in pods (small family groups). That suggests that it might be a young male.\u201dArticle contentElizabeth Zwamborn of the Cape Breton Pilot Whale Project provided information on the Cape Breton Cetacean Sightings Facebook page she oversees. The non-profit provides information and data about pilot whales and others in the waters.Article content\u201cMany of you will have heard of the orca that has been seen hanging around at the Canso Causeway for the past few days,\u201d Zwamborn said in a post published Thursday.Article content\u201cOrca sightings are very rare in coastal Nova Scotia (with the exception of Old Thom, who is seen annually in the Bay of Fundy).\u201dArticle content Elizabeth Zwamborn, Cape Breton Pilot Whale Project: \u201cOrca sightings are very rare in coastal Nova Scotia.\u201d CONTRIBUTEDArticle contentZwamborn noted some things of importance for people to remember when they spot an orca in the ocean near a coast line:Article contentOrcas staying alone in an area isn\u2019t normal for the whales as they are social creatures who usually stay in groups, however, young males have been observed traveling solo in some groups.They travel great distances and seldom stay in one place for long, so this orca may be disoriented or ill.Watching the orca from the shore is best as boat noise and the presence of people in the water near it could cause the orca extra stress, which the animal doesn\u2019t need right now.Article contentArticle content\u201cWhile this orca might be okay, we also have to consider the possibility that this individual may be disoriented or ill,\u201d said Zwamborn.Article content\u201cThe Marine Animal Response Society has been notified and will be able to check on the health of this individual if it continues to remain in the area.\u201dArticle content Tonya Wimmer, founder of Marine Animal Response Society (MARS): \u201cIt\u2019s free swimming. It\u2019s quite energetic. So, there\u2019s nothing we can do at the moment except to monitor and make sure that situation doesn\u2019t change.\u201d Photo by ALAN COCHRANE \/POSTMEDIA FILEArticle content\u2018IT\u2019S QUITE ENERGETIC\u2019Article contentTonya Wimmer, founder of Marine Animal Response Society (MARS), said people\u2019s photos and videos help them monitor the orca, as well as reports from volunteers in the area.Article content\u201cWe deal with animals that are alive and in distress or that have unfortunately died, and the moment, touch wood, you know, this animal doesn\u2019t seem to the there,\u201d said Wimmer.Article content\u201cIt\u2019s free swimming. It\u2019s quite energetic. So, there\u2019s nothing we can do at the moment except to monitor and make sure that situation doesn\u2019t change.\u201dArticle contentWimmer said it appears the orca is a male because his dorsal fin is taller than a female orca would have.Article content\u201cIn our neck of the woods, in sort of this eastern part of Canada, we sometimes get orcas by themselves \u2026 we haven\u2019t had them in this particular area, so, we\u2019re not quire sure why it\u2019s there. If there just happens to be a lot of food, we\u2019ll have to sort of keep an eye out and see.\u201dArticle contentLike Zwamborn, Wimmer advises to watch the orca from the shore and not try to get close to it in the water.Article content\u201cIt\u2019s really great that Mother Nature brings us some interesting surprises at times, so it\u2019s lovely if people keep reporting to us and posting,\u201d she said.Article content\u201cJust don\u2019t try to go into the water to get close to the animal.\u201dArticle content<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article contentOther people\u2019s videos posted to social media also have thousands of views, showing there is a lot of interest in the solo orca swimming so close to the causeway.Article content\u201cThere\u2019s always a lot of sea life around the causeway right there,\u201d Ferguson said.Article content\u201cObviously, leatherback sea turtles and seals. And, we use the term [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":95379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,590,1],"tags":[116,589],"class_list":["post-95378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-newfoundland-and-labrador","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}