Talk about being in the right place at the right time, this is only about a 10 minute drive from my place on Vancouver Island. I have yet to actually see an orca for myself, surprising I know. A reminder to everyone to respect marine wildlife viewing practices. In this case it seems that the pod approached the kayaks. Still, it would be advisable to vacate the area in this kind of situation.

Ken Heinrich and his daughters had an amazing close encounter experience with a pod of orcas Saturday evening off of Gartley Beach.

“A group of orcas were in the area and while out on our kayaks they moved in for a close encounter,” said Heinrich in an email to The Record. “We were able to get some amazing pictures along with video of tail slapping and breaching. At one point the orca sounded and ended up beside us where the bull male (who someone has now identified) breached literally right in front of me! I was lucky enough to be filming at the exact same location as the breach.”

“My daughters were taking pictures behind me so the shot is perfectly aligned with myself between them and the orca,” said Heinrich. “Rapid shutter has a series of five or six shots that are quite spectacular. It was an amazing experience as we simply drifted while the ocra moved around, appearing to be in hunting mode.”

Written and reported by Terry Farrell (Comox Valley Record)