Killer whale feeding frenzy surprises B.C. paddle boarder

B.C. travel guides Dag Goering and Maria Coffey have been around whales many times during their long careers, but they never expected to be caught up in the middle of a killer whale feeding frenzy.

Goering said he was at his Lasqueti Island cabin on Aug. 29 when he saw four whales out in the distance, and he and Coffey decided to get a better look. 

"It was obvious they were occupied and staying with something, diving on one spot," Goering told CBC News. 

They were more than a 100 metres away from the whales and hugging the shore when the orcas vanished. 

"Suddenly I saw a swirl in the water and a split second later all the water around me was in turmoil and I see these fins slicing through the water just a few feet ahead of me," Goering said. 

His paddle board was surrounded by whales and jostled by the waves as the whales hunted what he said looked like a baby seal.

"I got down on my hands and knees on my paddle board as much as in awe as it was to stabilize," he said. "The paddle board felt like such a fragile thing to be on with all that flesh being ripped around me."

Goering said he and his wife never intended to get that close to the whales. 

"We had no way of anticipating that they would surface near us," he said. "It was a bit of fluke!"