Cathy Potter walks along the Songhees Walkway every day and always keeps her eyes peeled for wildlife.
“There’s always seals, otters and herons,” she says. “I’ve seen owls, raccoons and deer.”
She walks with the expectation to see wildlife, and on Thursday night she was in the right spot when a pod of orcas swam toward Victoria’s Inner Harbour.
“I just glanced to my left and there they were,” she says.
Potter stopped her podcast and pulled out her headphones to take in the moment. At least four killer whales — believed to be the transient T109As — swam through the harbour just before 6 p.m. and stayed around for only a few minutes.
“I always feel blessed if I get to see them because when we moved here I said the one thing I want to see is a whale,” she said.
She and her husband often visited Victoria and in 2020 made the move from Alberta. Being surrounded by nature and wildlife is what she loves most about Victoria.
“Walking around and seeing nature is just the best,” she says.
'Magic'
Potter noticed many other people along the walkway watching the orcas. Killer whales are typically spotted only a few times a year in the harbour.
Hannele Kafarowski-Payne was walking with her brother near the Songhees lookout when she spotted the orcas.
"It was a moment, that paused time,” she says. "The city was silent, the air was still ... and then, magic!”
The whales swam around the Johnson Street Bridge, over toward the Coho and Clipper terminals and back toward the Pacific Ocean.
While no video does the experience justice, she was able to capture the whales to share with everyone.
