No surfers were harmed in the making of this video

February 26, 2013 10:44 PM

Nervous seals, a pack of orcas, surfers, and a guy with a camera. February 23rd--Orcas in the lineup near Tofino, British Columbia.
posted by jokeefe (15 comments total)

saw this earlier today. beautiful footage. this whole 'winter' has been glorious here on the BC coast. (might look nasty in the video but Tofino is like the rain capital of the coast, or the country, or the continent - I forget, but it rains a lot there).
posted by mannequito at 11:20 PM on February 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I saw this earlier today - it's really interesting!

I kept trying to figure out what the orcas were chasing. I don't think it was the Stellar sea lions that were popping up, and at one point a Pacific White-sided dolphin showed up, too. There might have been herring, or perhaps some Chinook or Spring salmon, which should be around right now.
posted by KokuRyu at 11:20 PM on February 26, 2013

I should have said "a pod of orcas". Dang.
posted by jokeefe at 11:39 PM on February 26, 2013

Pack sounds more badass though, which is the image the Orcas were going for in this case.
posted by KokuRyu at 11:48 PM on February 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

Screw the seals, that guy with the surfboard needs to get the hell out of there.
posted by dunkadunc at 12:08 AM on February 27, 2013

In other Cetacean news: Dolphin Assisted Fishing.
posted by homunculus at 12:56 AM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

Fun little ride at the end.

I wonder what the heck is going on there though? Pretty unusual to have *that much* seal AND orca action going on that close to shore. Thoughts?
posted by iamkimiam at 3:42 AM on February 27, 2013

@lamkimiam, Pretty standard for the PNW really. Remarkable but not unusual.
posted by humboldt32 at 4:29 AM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

Fuk me. They are coming for us.
posted by empatterson at 5:09 AM on February 27, 2013

They're probably both after the same fish.
posted by the_artificer at 5:12 AM on February 27, 2013

I'm going surfing in Tofino! Woo woo woo!
posted by ChuraChura at 7:06 AM on February 27, 2013 [2 favorites]

Not that this has ever happened to me, but one of the reasons why I surf, even on days when the waves are small or the tide isn't ideal, is for the wildlife. Birds and deals and otters and dolphins and whales. You get to see them all up close, pretty regularly. And you don't care as much that the waves are only 1 foot when you get to watch a mother sea otter hunting shellfish to feed a little baby sea otter that's following it around.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 7:55 AM on February 27, 2013 [4 favorites]

I don't surf but that's one of the reasons I kayak. I've had some pretty amazing encounters out on the ocean.
posted by the_artificer at 7:59 AM on February 27, 2013

As someone who once unknowingly chummed the water for about 45 minutes from a sliced-open foot while surfing, I can only say that I'm impressed (but I'm not sure that's exactly the word I'm looking for) by the people who stay in the water and keep catching waves as the orca fins get closer.

If you surf and have that "I wonder what's going on under me right now" feeling from time to time, check this out:
http://vimeo.com/14054518#
posted by itstheclamsname at 8:20 AM on February 27, 2013

hard to tell what was going on but it didn't seem like meal time by the languid way the biggest eaters cruised around and the fact the seals or sea lions didn't bolt. makes you wonder what kind of communication might have been happening between the various species.

oddest of all: the best wave gets snapped up by a boogie boarder.
posted by ecourbanist at 12:47 PM on February 27, 2013