'It was swimming around me': Free-diver captures close encounter with orca
When Ping-Yi Wu started taking a selfie while floating in the ocean near East Sooke, B.C., the tourist never imagined she would eventually capture an orca with her camera.
“I was just looking around,” Ping-Yi smiles in a Zoom call from her home in Taipei. “Just seeing what was underwater.”
Ping-Yi had travelled to B.C. from Taiwan to visit her friend and fellow free-diver Ethan Peng.
“Everything just seemed normal,” Ethan recalls. “We had a good time in the water.”
Ethan was hoping to introduce Ping-Yi to some of the many creatures he’d met under the sea, like an octopus (which are certainly shy around strangers), or the manta ray (that seemed to greet the divers with a smile).
“Whenever wild animals come by,” Ethan says. “I always think that’s good luck!”
So when seals kept swimming around him, Ethan called his friend over to get some footage with her camera. But Ping-Yi kept missing them.
“I think, ‘Why not me?’” Ping Yi smiles. “Why I cannot see?”
“And then five minutes later,” Ethan says. “Ping was screaming, ‘Ahhh! Oh my God!’”
Ethan assumed Ping-Yi had been startled by a seal, until he noticed a large black fin cutting through the water.
“I realized I was wrong very quickly,” Ethan says.
And then, approaching Ping-Yi quite curiously was an orca.
“I was shocked,” Ethan says.
“It was swimming circles around me,” Ping-Yi says. “It was very close.”
Although it was close enough to touch, she didn’t. Although it felt like a dream, it wasn’t.
“I feel wow!” Ping-Yi smiles. “Beautiful.”
“I feel blessed,” Ethan says. “Honoured.”
As Ethan looks back on the video, he also couldn’t feel more grateful to have shared it with his friend.
“It is the experience in our water here,” Ethan says.
Which is why — despite having her video as a souvenir — before returning home, Ping-Yi bought a more tangible reminder of her remarkable orca encounter — a "fluffy, killer whale stuffie."
“It’s a very good experience and memory,” Ping-Yi smiles while cradling the toy in her arm. “A forever memory.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More Canadians only making minimum payment on credit cards: TransUnion
Some Canadians are seeing their credit card balances grow as the cost-of-living crisis and higher interest rates eat into household budgets, a new report shows.
Severe thunderstorms, 15 cm of snow: Canadian weather forecast highlights
Well into spring, some parts of Canada could experience a wintry comeback, while other areas are bracing for severe thunderstorms, according to local forecasts.
Tornado touches down west of the Island of Montreal
Emergency services in the town of Rigaud, Que. are investigating after a tornado touched down shortly after 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
House from 'Home Alone' hits the market for US$5.25 million
Kevin McCallister’s childhood home has hit the market for US$5.25 million. At just over 9,000 square feet, the house from the 'Home Alone' movie was last sold in 2012 for $1,585,000.
Teen was doing homework at family's Mississauga, Ont. restaurant when gunman opened fire: testimony
The 13-year-old sister of a young man killed in the attack on her family’s Mississauga restaurant in 2021 took the stand in a Brampton courthouse on Monday to describe the terrifying moments of coming under fire.
Israeli tanks advance into Rafah's centre despite global outcry
Israeli tanks advanced to the centre of Rafah for the first time on Tuesday, witnesses said, three weeks into a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city that has stirred global condemnation for its continued civilian toll.
At least 60 reports of Lyme disease so far as Ontario enters tick season
Peak tick season is only just beginning but reports of bites – and tick-borne illnesses – are already higher than normal in Ontario.
What a CBSA strike could look like, according to an expert
Slowed or interrupted travel, the passing of goods and significantly restricted borders should be expected if Canadian border workers take upcoming strike action.
Arm of mummy came off after mishandling by museum staff: Mexican government
Mexico's federal archaeology agency on Monday accused the conservative-governed city of Guanajuato of mistreating one of the country’s famous mummified 19th century bodies.