4 orcas give kayakers a show off the B.C. coast

Some kayakers had an up-close encounter with some orcas near Batchelor Bay in West Vancouver this weekend.

Meyrick Jones said he was kayaking just after 9 a.m. Sunday when four orcas came swimming around them so he immediately pulled out his phone.

The whales came very near to the kayakers but Jones said they were not scared of them.

“Maybe verging on concerned,” he said in an email. “But no panic.”

Jones also said he saw several people on land gathering to try and catch a glimpse.

Biologists have suggested that marine life, and whales, in particular, may be getting a reprieve during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a major decrease in noise from marine traffic.

1:44 Quieter oceans a boon to whale researchers and orcas