The last sighting of the young orca named kwiisaḥiʔis was Friday afternoon as she swam into deeper water of Esperanza Inlet south of Zeballos.
She was under the watchful eye of rescuers before literally taking off on her own.
“Her behaviour and her acoustics changed the deeper the water got. She actually sped away from the boat and moved into this Esperanza Inlet and just really took off from the group,” said Paul Cottrell a Marine Mammal Rescue expert at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
DFO, the Ehattesaht First Nation and Nuchatlaht First Nation decided not to tag her with a transmitter for tracking because of concerns around infection, so she’s now on her own, but sightings will come in to help track her whereabouts.
Dean Stoltz photo credit