Video surfaces of high speed jet boat narrowly missing people on narrow creek

A video has surfaced of a motorized boat driving down the narrow creek at a fast speed, narrowly missing people in a canoe that managed to pull off to the side.

No sound because I was actively on the phone reporting these guys and apparently my phone doesn't like to multitask. They didn't know we were here: if we hadn't pulled off just the moment earlier when we heard them coming, we probably would've been crushed. pic.twitter.com/D3l2HbtQeH

— Chris On A Bike (@ChrisOnABikeYEG) June 24, 2023

“When I saw that video, I couldn’t believe how close the jetboat actually came to the single canoeist,” said Wayne Oakes, photographer.

Wayne Oakes spends a lot of time in the Whitemud Creek capturing not only photos of birds and wildlife. But has captured other jetboats ripping through the creek at fast speeds.

“A small creek like this, in my humble opinion, is not a place for that kind of opinion,” he explained. “This portion of the creek is deceiving in that it is very wide, the water is quite deep because of the high level of the North Saskatchewan River. But the further you go up the creek, it gets way more narrow and the volume diminishes significantly.

“When you’re going really fast in a narrow, winding creek, that has the potential of also having canoers, kayakers, paddleboarders on it, there is recipe for significant disaster.”

He says he, alongside the Sierra Club, made a motion for the City of Edmonton to restrict or ban motorized vessels in the Whitemud Creek back in 2017. But it went nowhere.

“I don’t know if anything ever followed through on that application process, how far it got, if it went anywhere,” said Oakes.

Boats are still allowed on the creek today. The City says they did install multiple signs that are clearly visible for anyone entering the creek, and say this is something the City will monitor and enforce.

Raquel Feroe has also witnessed a motorized boat driving fast. She believes it ran over a flock of ducklings.

“When I saw the video, it also sort of re-traumatized me because when I was canoeing a few weeks ago, I saw a boat coming upstream, and downstream I could see a duck trying to bring her ducklings across the river. I sort of watched as this accident was happening,” Feroe explained.

She’s unsure what happened to the ducklings, but hopes boaters will educate themselves on the impacts boating can have on marine life.

“The River valley is hugely important to both people and wildlife and we all have to learn a better relationship with each other. And particularly the Whitemud, that is an important spawning area.

“It was really an act of violence, and I think with some education they would see it was an act of violence. I think they didn’t realize the ecosystem, or understand the effects of what they were doing,” said Feroe. “Really, there should not be jetboats, end of story in the Whitemud Creek. Any boater should stay out of there if they have a motor.”

Oakes added, “The adults might be able to take off and fly away in time, but the youngsters don’t have the ability to fly. All they can do is desperately try to scramble to the shoreline.”

The City says its Park Ranger Marine Unit and the Edmonton Police Service Marine Units are investigating, saying this incident is very serious due to overall concerns about river safety.