‘Quite the show’: Video shows orcas getting up close with B.C. boaters

A British Columbia resident says he got the show of a lifetime when a pod of orcas got up close with him and a group of friends on the waters of Howe Sound in an encounter captured on video.

Joshua Lepin says he and his friends were in boats and inflatables on Saturday afternoon and had been floating off Gambier Island for a couple of hours, when the pod of six or seven orcas swam directly toward them.

He says swimmers got out of the water as the whales “put on quite a show.”

The videos captured by Lepin show the orcas slapping their fins and tails on the water, while juveniles in the group can be seen porpoising out of the water.

Lepin says he and his friends got a “front-row seat” in the 10-minute encounter that he says was like “something you would see at SeaWorld.”

The Department of Fisheries says boaters are required to stay 400 metres away from orcas in Howe Sound, but if a whale gets within that distance, the boat should be kept out of gear until they have passed by.

Lepin says he believes the orcas only got as close as they did because the boat engines were already off and they were floating stationary.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.

Fatima Raza, The Canadian Press