The transient cavitating flow around the Clark-Y hydrofoil is numerically investigated by the dynamic mode decomposition with criterion. Based on the ranking dominant modes, frequencies of the first four modes are in good accordance with those obtained by fast Fourier transform. Furthermore, the cavitating flow field is reconstructed by the first four modes, and the dominant flow features are well captured with the reconstructed error below 12% when compared to the simulated flow field. This paper offers a reference for observing and reconstructing the flow fields, and gives a novel insight into the transient cavitating flow features.