Each week at Global BC, we highlight our stories to bring a bright spot to your Friday and into the weekend.
Here are the five stories we want to share:
Stuck in B.C. lagoon for weeks, killer whale calf is finally free
At 2:30 a.m. Friday at high tide, B.C.’s orphaned orca whale calf, Kwee-sa-hay-is or Brave Little Hunter, swam past the sandbar where her mother beached and died, under a bridge, down Little Espinosa Inlet, on to Esperanza near Zeballos.
The calf has been stuck in a shallow lagoon since March 23, when she and her mother swam through a narrow channel connected to the ocean.
A team of experts has spent weeks trying to coax the orca calf out of the lagoon and successfully fed it, but concerns were running high about how the two-year-old orca was going to leave.
“After most everyone had left to get some sleep the small group who remained stood as witnesses to watch her swim under the bridge and down the inlet,” a press release from the Ehattesaht First Nation said.
‘A huge deal’: International superstar Diljit Dosanjh in Vancouver to launch concert tour
One of the world’s biggest international superstars is coming to Vancouver on Saturday for what is expected to be a record-breaking and history making concert.
Diljit Dosanjh will play BC Place to kick off his global DIL-LUMINATI TOUR.
It is being touted as the largest concert ever by a Punjabi artist outside India.
The 40-year-old has been making music since 2003. He has also starred in several Punjabi films.
“The fact that he’s chosen Vancouver as the first stop of the tour…is a huge deal not only for the music industry as a whole but the South Asian community,” said Neesha Hothi, marketing director for the 2025 Juno Host Committee and marketing strategist for entertainment and events.
“It’s quite a statement to say that B.C. is the hub for South Asian diasporic music right now.”
Vancouver Whitecaps to host Ryan Reynolds-owned Wrexham AFC in July
Wrexham AFC, co-owned by Canadian actor and Vancouver native Ryan Reynolds, is set to play the Vancouver Whitecaps on July 27 at BC Place Stadium.
It will be the last of Wrexham AFC’s three North American matches this summer, as part of their 2024 Wrex Coast Tour.
Before the Vancouver visit, Wrexham will face English Premier League competition in California, against Bournemouth on July 20 in Santa Barbara, and Chelsea FC on July 24 in Santa Clara.
Wrexham has shot to prominence since Reynolds and fellow Hollywood actor Rob McElhenney purchased the club in 2020. The club, which was languishing in English soccer’s fifth tier at the time of the purchase, has achieved two successive promotions under its Hollywood ownership.
B.C. ‘octopus whisperer,’ cinematographer featured in National Geographic series
Krystal Janicki is known around her Vancouver Island community as the octopus whisperer.
The Black Creek, B.C., commercial and residential painter has been diving for nine years and started making connections with the local cephalopods about seven years ago.
“I like to joke that they choose me because I probably look the most awkward and they’re like ‘she needs some help,’ so they come take care of me,” Janicki said.
Her unique bond with the water-dwelling creatures is now being featured in the National Geographic series Secrets of the Octopus from executive producer James Cameron and narrated by Paul Rudd.
The series spans multiple countries and species of octopus. It is streaming in Canada on Nat Geo TV and Disney+.
‘Second chance’: B.C. humpbacks, researchers feature in ‘Planet Earth’ episode
British Columbia’s humpback whales are starring in one of the world’s premier nature documentary series.
The massive creatures, and the work of B.C. researchers who study them, appeared in an episode of Planet Earth III that aired on Sunday night.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s crazy to be able to describe it,” said Christie McMillan, co-founder and science lead with the Marine Education and Research Society.
“Hearing David Attenborough say the name of the humpback that we nicknamed and talk about the research strategy that we described, you never really dream of it happening, it’s amazing.”
