Liam Britten

Maybe it was fitting that Josh Goodman, 22, was blasting Supertramp on his sound system when a pod of killer whales swam past his boat on Indian Arm Saturday.

He had always longed to see killer whales in the wild. Now, he is no longer just a 

"It was absolutely amazing and breathtaking," Goodman said Monday.&nbsp;

"It was probably one of the great moments of my life. I've been waiting so long to experience that. So it was awesome."

Goodman, from North Vancouver, was wakeboarding&nbsp;with four friends during the 

 on his 14-foot motorboat when they saw the whales. He captured the encounter in a cellphone video.

Killer whales spotted swimming through waters of Indian Arm

The pod leapt out of the water, swam under a boat, and one whale practically showed off a seal carcass.

At first, he only saw a group of boats in the distance on the western side of Croker Island.

He thought they might have been fishing for salmon. He puttered over to see if they had any luck.

Pod of killer whales spotted in Indian Arm near Metro Vancouver

Jim Hanson was stacking wood with his 24-year-old son early Friday evening by the northern part of the fjord of Indian Arm when he heard what he thought was "the puff of a whale."

Seeing killer whales in Indian Arm is a rare occurrence, according to a marine mammal researcher.

killer whales sighted in indian arm

But when he approached he saw no lines in the water: just whales in the distance, leaping into the air a few hundred metres away.

After the whales breached for about 30 minutes, they swam over to his boat, coming very close.

Killer whales return to hunt seals in Vancouver harbour

Killer whales have been spotted in Vancouver harbour twice in the last two weeks and are expected to return. Two separate groups have been spotted swimming into the harbour to snack on seals. A group of five was seen most recently on Tuesday.

A trio of killer whales swims under the Ironworkers bridge on April 16, 2019. 

Killer whales pod Vancouve Harbour Ironworkers bridge

"One of them had a huge seal carcass," Goodman said. "Which they've been feeding on at the harbour."

For Goodman, the encounter fulfilled what he described as a lifelong dream. He'd seen killer whales&nbsp;in captivity but didn't enjoy it. He wanted to see them in their natural habitat.

Ships must keep 400 metres away as part of new rules to protect killer whales

Canada has announced sweeping new rules to protect southern resident killer whales off British Columbia's coast, including requiring ships to stay 400 metres away from the whales and closing some salmon fisheries.

A female southern resident killer whale breaches in the calm blue waters of the Salish Sea between Washington State and British Columbia, Canada.

Shutterstock - Huge file

A female southern resident killer whale breaches in the calm blue waters of the Salish Sea between Washington state and British Columbia.

"It felt like they were very happy [in the wild]," Goodman described. "It was just kind of a normal, average day that turned into something miraculous."

Then, the whales swam away, Goodman said, and it was 

Learn about the threats&nbsp;to southern resident killer whales and the efforts to save them with CBC British Columbia's original podcast&nbsp;

A still from Josh Goodman's video shows one of the whales coming close to his boat.

Close encounter with killer whales on Indian Arm delights wakeboarders

More Stories Like This