Encounter with killer whales leads to $2,500 fine for B.C. paddleboarder

A paddleboarder from Vancouver Island has been ordered to pay a hefty fine for getting too close to a pod of transient killer whales.

A B.C. woman has been fined $2,500 for paddle boarding too close to a pod of orcas off Vancouver Island.

When the transient killer whales appeared in Ucluelet harbour in January 2021, local videographer Geoff Johnson captured the majestic scene.

“As I was shooting the whales, the woman on the paddle board started appearing in my shots. I actually wasn’t aware of her entering the water, I was focused down the lens of that camera the whole time,” said Johnson.

The paddle boarder — Ucluelet resident Christie Jamieson — remained with the orcas for about an hour, taking photos as they breached and swam around the harbour.

“I wasn’t necessarily thinking, specifically, in the moment about the encroachment on the whales, I was more thinking about her own safety,” said Johnson.

Some people watching from shore were concerned too.

“There were enough individuals that knew to call the DFO observe/record/report line, which is our violations reporting line,” said Kirsty Walde from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

An investigation was launched, and when Johnson posted his video to YouTube, there was widespread outrage at how close the paddle boarder got to the whales.

“There was quite a bit people reaching out from marine science programs and concerned individuals, boaters, whale watching people and whatever. So that was when I kind of realized that there was something that happened here,” said Johnson.

He testified in court about his video, which played a role in Jamieson being the first Canadian paddleboarder to be convicted under the federal Fisheries Act on Tuesday for failing to stay at least 200 metres away from orcas in the water.

“It wasn’t simply a situation of the whales approaching her or popping up while she was out on her paddle board,” said Walde. “In this case, it was obvious that the pod of whales was in the harbour, and certainly there was evidence that Ms. Jamieson grabbed her paddle board, got in the water, and actually paddled up to the whales well within that 200 prohibited distance, in some cases, getting as close as 50 meters.”

Crown asked for a fine of $10,000. Jamieson was ultimately ordered to pay $2,500.

Johnson says his telephoto lens may have misled some video viewers about Jamieson’s proximity to the orcas.

“I think there was a massive misconception about how close she actually got to the whales,” he said, while acknowledging she was clearly less than the required 200 meters away from the orcas.

Ucluelet is a small town and Johnson knows Jamieson.

“A few days before the trial, we were both at a friend’s housewarming party,” he said, adding when the video was posted, she was bombarded with hate online. “I’m sure the fine is a drop in the bucket compared to the emotional journey she has been on.”

“I think it’s important to recognize that this intention is not to vilify this individual. I think rather looking at this as an opportunity,” added Walde.

She hopes the conviction serves as a reminder that the 200 metre buffer zone for killer whales applies to all vessels, motorized and human powered. And it’s there for the safety of both orcas and people.

Johnson says that’s why the video is still up on his Youtube page four years later. “Because the conversations, the educational conversations that came up around that, and, you know, the passion of the people that are really concerned about whale protection, myself included.”