Skip to content

'It was absolutely magical': Woman spots pod of orcas while hiking

A woman and her father were hiking on a popular Vancouver Island trail when they spotted a group of killer whales in the water.

Samantha DeMooy went for a hike up Jocelyn Hill in Gowlland Tod Provincial Park on Wednesday (Feb. 24) and was shocked by what she saw. 
 
DeMooy said she and her father passed Holmes Peak and decided to stop for a moment to photograph the area. 

She looked down and noticed something in the water of Finlayson Arm. 

“I happened to look down into the water and it is a pretty big drop, and I saw three kayakers. As I watched, two of the kayakers disappeared under the water,” said DeMooy. 

What she saw wasn’t a group of kayakers though. 
 
“I saw a type of a fin just going under the water and I was like, ‘Oh, what was that?',” said DeMooy. 

To her surprise, a group of four orcas was swimming together heading toward Goldstream Provincial Park. 

“I saw one whale come back up and the mist of the blowing water,” she said. “I freaked out a bit.” 

They waited for the killer whales to come back to the surface and said they stayed in the area for about 45 minutes. 

“It was absolutely magical, I didn’t know they went in there,” she said.
  
DeMooy added it was her first time doing the hike and she got way more than she expected. 

You can view the footage of the mammals on her Facebook page.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks