'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
4th Indian national arrested, charged with murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Homicide investigators in B.C. say murder charges have been laid against a fourth Indian national in connection to the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Surrey gurdwara last year.
'I am angry': Alberta farmers will continue fight over world class motorsport resort
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
Man ticketed after allegedly trespassing again at Drake's Bridle Path mansion to get his bike
A man who tried to access Drake’s Bridle Path mansion earlier this week returned to the property Saturday and was apprehended again for allegedly trespassing, Toronto police say.
Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
Biden calls Trump 'unhinged,' says 'something snapped' in former president after he lost 2020 U.S. election
U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday called Donald Trump “clearly unhinged” and claimed that “something snapped” in the former president after he lost the 2020 election.
Wildfire that forced evacuation of Fort Nelson, B.C., caused by tree falling on wires, mayor says
The wildfire that prompted the evacuation of more than 3,000 people near Fort Nelson, B.C., was caused by a tree falling on wires, according to the municipality's mayor.
Switzerland's Nemo wins 68th Eurovision Song Contest
Swiss singer Nemo won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night with 'The Code,' an operatic ode to the singer’s journey toward embracing their nongender identity.
IN PICTURES Northern lights dance across the night sky in southern Ont.
From London, to Grand Bend, Collingwood and Guelph, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.