Rare 'iceberg' mirage captured by Nanoose, B.C. woman
A Nanoose, B.C. woman who is considering a life of professional photography already has a head start on her plans after photographing a phenomenon rarely caught on camera – or even seen in person.
Simone Engels was out at Moorecroft Park in Nanoose on Jan. 9 trying to capture sunset images when her eye caught something unusual.
"It was blowing my mind," Engels says. "I did not know exactly what (I was) looking at, all these questions went through my mind right away."
Engels was seeing, and then photographed, what she first thought was an iceberg in the distance off the park. But even then, she knew that was highly unlikely.
"If it had floated by Campbell River someone would have called it in and that was the piece that didn’t quite make sense for it to be an iceberg," she says.
She captured images of what turned out to be a phenomenon she believes was a "superior mirage."
Alexandra Blair is the chair of the Mathematics and Sciences Department at North Island College and describes what occurred.
"We can describe our light as waves and we had a temperature inversion so the lower air was colder than the higher air, which doesn’t happen that often," she says.
"Because of the air being different temperatures and therefore different densities, it refracts the light and sort of bends down our light waves," Blair says.
The result was that Engels was able to see and photograph something that wasn’t actually there.
"I looked through the zoom lens and thought this is so crisp and clear that it really had me stumped, it was so convincing that it was real," she says.
She captured images and shared them through photography Facebook groups and got instant feedback.
"A lot of them were blown away just like I was when I saw it, and they said, 'Wow, what an opportunity to take a picture of that phenomenon,'" Engels says.
Those groups helped her pin down what she was actually capturing, a view of Mount Cheam in Chilliwack, B.C., more than 200 kilometres away.
"A friend of mine on Facebook actually overlaid the two images, my image with Mount Cheam, and it was the perfect match," she says.
Blair says Engels was in the right place at the right time to see the phenomenon, which has a long history.
"Back in the day when sailors had talked about swimming cities or saw some ghost boats, that’s most likely what happened," Blair says.
Engels says she treasures the experience.
"I do meditate on a fairly regular basis and I was inviting more mystical experiences in my life and just a couple of days later I come here and I see this thing," Engels says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
'Summer of discontent': Federal unions vow to fight new 3-day a week office mandate
Federal unions are launching legal challenges and encouraging public sector workers to file "tens of thousands" of grievances over the new mandate requiring federal workers to return to the office at least three days a week in the fall.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Watch fighter jet pilots pummel fake enemy ship off coast of Philippines
The United States and Philippines held annual joint-training drills just off the Southeast Asian nation’s western coast on Wednesday. Military forces sunk a 'mock' enemy warship – the BRP Lake Caliraya, which was a decommissioned tanker made in China.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his head more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
'Ozempic babies': Reports of surprise pregnancies raise new questions about weight loss drugs
Numerous women have shared stories of 'Ozempic babies' on social media. But the joy some experience in discovering pregnancies may come with anxiety about the unknowns.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs to start for Canucks in Game 1 vs. Oilers
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.