B.C. woman fined for paddleboarding too close to orca pod

A B.C. woman has been fined for getting too close to a pod of orcas in Ucluelet Harbour.

More than four years ago, a pod of transient orcas, including two young calves, entered Ucluelet Harbour.

According to witnesses, 40-year-old Christine Jamieson ran down to the dock with a paddleboard and paddled out to see the whales up close and personal.

“My thought goes directly to the well-being of the whale and the risk to the individual,” said Kirsty Walde, an official with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada said.

2:08 Close-encounter with orca pod in Horseshoe Bay

A video taken of the incident was a key part of the evidence in the case against Jamieson who was found guilty of breaching the federal Fisheries Act, and ordered to pay $2,500 in fines for violating the 200-metre buffer zone.

“There’s no life jackets,” Walde said.

“These are large and unpredictable animals. And, you know, there was a great risk for herself and for the whales … these animals are wild animals.”