Here are the five stories we want to share:
B.C. father and son have seen wildlife before. But this orca encounter was ‘incredible’
An amazing close encounter with a pod of orcas was caught on camera recently.
Lionel Jensen and his dad Randy recently completed the Race to Alaska, an annual race from Port Townsend, Wash., to Ketchikan, Alaska. It’s a sailing race using only wind power with no engines allowed.
But they said this recent encounter on Monday at the Sewell’s Marina Docks in Horseshoe Bay blew them away.
“It was incredible,” Lionel told Global News.
“At one point, one of the whales dove underneath me. I was standing on a floating structure, and so I could look down the blowhole of the whale as it went underneath me. And they were swimming alongside the breakwater so we could jog along beside the whales.”
B.C. lifting campfire bans for coast, southeast
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Good news for many British Columbians hoping for a classic camping experience.
Officials have lifted campfire bans for British Columbia’s coast and southeast, amid a protracted stretch of cooler, wetter weather.
The ban for the Southeast Fire Centre was lifted on Monday, while the ban for the Coastal Fire Centre was rescinded on Wednesday.
The lifting of the bans means people will once again be allowed to have fires, so long as they’re no larger than half a metre high or wide.
Any fire larger than that is considered a Category 2 or Category 3 fire, and remains banned.
‘Every second counts’: Earthquake early warning system launched in B.C.
As British Columbians prepare for the next ‘big one’ to hit, they now have a new tool to help warn them about an impending earthquake.
The federal government announced Thursday the Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system is now operational in the province.
Using a network of sensors, the EWW will detect earthquakes with a magnitude greater than five and automatically send an alert through the National Public Alerting System to cellphones, radio and televisions. The alert will give people “seconds to tens of seconds before strong shaking starts,” and a short time to ‘Drop, Cover, and Hold On,” according to Natural Resources Canada.
Cycling Without Age offers the great outdoors to those with mobility challenges
A Metro Vancouver cycling service is helping seniors and those with mobility challenges escape social isolation, explore the great outdoors and have fun.
Cycling Without Age North Shore offers free rides in specialty-made bikes to those who many not otherwise be able to cycle themselves.
“For some seniors who might be isolated or mobility compromised, it’s actually quite difficult to get out and enjoy nature, enjoy the places where we live and enjoy meeting and conversing with other people,” Silver Harbour Seniors’ Activity Centre executive director Annwen Loverin said.
The program began in Denmark in 2012 and has since spread to communities around the world.
Dreams take flight at the inagural Wings and Wheels show at Kelowna International Airport
Having the chance to get steps away from the runway at the Kelowna International Airport is just as rare as a rainy day in the Okanagan, but both happened at the inaugural Wings and Wheels Show which boasts rows of classic cars and imports, motorcycles and airplanes.
It was the event’s inaugural run, and the rain didn’t deter the crowds.
The Kelowna T Hangars at YLW were buzzing with hundreds of people all hoping to get an up-close look at the spectacle designed to help the next generation dream of an aviation career.
“You can get up close and personal with the aircraft, with the pilots of the aircraft, talk to them, talk to the people with the cars,” said Kent Hardisty, Kelowna Flying Club president.
“[Being] airside as well, people like to come out to the airport and just watch the airplanes take off and land.”
