Many Vancouverites have stunning views of water when they peek out from their offices and residences. But not many people are accustomed to seeing seven to nine tonne mammals bobbing up and down outside their window.
This is what hundreds of excited
onlookers witnessed on June 14 when two families of killer whales swam past
Stanley Park and under the Lions Gate Bridge into the Coal Harbour area of
Metro Vancouver. Not too shabby for a regular Spring morning in Vancouver.
Vancouver Aquarium’s Jen Derwojed thinks they were transient killer whales that were looking for food such as marine mammals. She said that the pod included: “two very large males and a few juveniles.”
The whales did a u-turn just before the Second Narrows Bridge in Vancouver and were followed by the Vancouver Aquarium staff towards Howe Sound.
A Vancouver Aquarium representative
says up to eight whales were swimming and rising up out of the waters that
afternoon.
Luckily for Vancouver residents
and tourists, whale sightings have occurred for four years in a row. Killer
whales were seen near Jericho Beach in 2012, and in the Jericho harbour in
2011. And in 2010 a gray whale swam into False Creek, a saltwater inlet south
of downtown Vancouver.
Want to see a whale but don’t want
to wait for its surprise visit to Vancouver? Choose from a variety of action-packed trips leaving from
Vancouver, Steveston, Victoria and Tofino. Our extensive whale spotting network
has given us a 90% sighting success rate.
Have you ever spotted a whale when you weren’t
expecting to? Tell us your story by commenting below!
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