A group of transient orcas graced southern Vancouver Islanders with their presence along the coastline between Cordova Bay to Metchosin over the long weekend.
Their beauty and grace makes us humans drop what we’re doing and reach for our phones to grab a photo or a video — for other oceanic residents though, their presence can cause quite a fright.
On Monday afternoon at around 2:30 p.m. a group of Biggs orcas were trying to catch a 1,500 pound sea lion near Pedder Bay in Metchosin.
When the sea lion saw the orcas, it panicked and leapt out of the water so quickly that it was airborne and landed on the edge of a small fishing boat, nearly capsizing it.
The couple aboard the vessel were almost thrown from their boat from the sudden weight of the sea lion coming aboard uninvited, but the sea lion fell back into the water and the boaters were able to stay in their vessel.
“I’ve seen seals and sea lions try to get out of the water before but I’ve never seen it that dramatic,” Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales Guide told Victoria Buzz.
The ordeal was caught on camera by a few passengers of the Prince of Whales.
As of this publication, the two aboard the fishing boat have still not been tracked down—do you know who they are? Send us a tip!
