Wild Whales Vancouver offer incredible whale watching tours around the British Columbia coast line. We went out on the first tour of the 2019 season to see what all the fuss is about!

This year I turned 30 years old.

I’m actually OK with this milestone, as I have found that as I grow older I feel far more comfortable in myself. I am far more confident and self-assured. It feels lke I have finally and entirely left my youth behind me. I’m not even a young adult anymore, just a plain old adult. 30 doesn’t seem so scary, once you’re this side of the fence!

That being said 30 is kind of a ‘big’ one, and I think that should be celebrated. We’re big on celebrating. Any excuse to eat, drink and be merry, so I was excited to see what would come.

In a surprising turn of events, 2 weeks before the big day, Ian surprised me with this incredible birthday gift. We woke up one morning, a little earlier than I had anticipated, and he gently nudged me out of bed and told me ‘Come on, get up, we’re going Whale watching!’

Wild Whales Vancouver – The Company

Wild Whales Vancouver is an established whale watching company, and the oldest operating from Granville Island. It was started by an ex-fisherman, who wanted to share his passion for nature and wildlife with others. The tour operator has been running since 2003 and has 15 seasons of experience. These guys really know what they’re doing!

The company also has a focus on conservation, which is one of the reasons why Ian picked them for our tour. With every booking they receive, they also charge a conservation fee, which goes towards conservation and research. I think this is such a wonderful idea. If interested, you can read about the organizations the fee is donated to on the Wild Whales Vancouver website.

Check In

After getting over my initial surprise, we made our way to the beautiful Granville Island, where Wild Whales Vancouver operates from. Granville Island is itself a Vancouver institution, and a must see if you’re visiting the city. The island features lots of shopping opportunities, arts and crafts, theatre, restaurants and a bustling market.

We arrived at the Wild Whales office 45 mins before the sailing time to check in at the front desk. After we’d signed the paperwork, we were told to wait for the rest of the group to arrive. The staff recommended we go grab a coffee or get some snacks/essentials for the tour, as it can last a few hours. So we dutifully wandered over to the nearby Granville Island market. It’s just a short 5 minute walk away and grabbed some yummy veggie/vegan snacks!

So snacks in hand, we headed back. With our group finally together, we were introduced to our lovely guide.

Suiting up and safety talk from Wild Whales Vancouver

Unfortunately I didn’t our guides name, however she was enthusiastic, very informed and approachable. I felt she was genuinely very compassionate, and truly cared about the whales. She spoke of their endangerment and the problems they face with real passion.

She ran through a little about the company and some basic safety measures (all very simple/mostly common sense.) The team then offered everyone waterproof bags for electronics and anything else you may want to keep dry. I’d totally recommend taking them up on these, as things can get a little damp.

Before we headed off, the team encouraged everyone to use their high SPF (I think it was SPF60!) sunscreen. As it was a beautifully sunny day and we were going to be out in the sun for some time, I think this was a considerate touch.

And finally, we then got to put on these delightful red suits!

Though not 100% guaranteed, these were designed to keep you dry. And also keep out the wind, and keep you warm. The boat travels at quite a speed, and even on a beautifully sunny day like we had, once the boat started moving the wind can be a little chilly.

Leaving the harbour

We made our way from the office to the boat waiting for us at the Granville Island dock. We were introduced to the captain, found some seats, and then we were off!

The boat slowly made its way across English Bay. And we were delighted by the beautiful views of the city and mountains in the distance. Definitely take a camera for those! Once we left the bay and made our way into the Burrard Inlet, the captain let loose with the throttle and we gained a lot of speed.

Suddenly it was fast, windy and a bit wet. So do take advantage of the waterproof bags and the suits, as they do a great job at keeping you warm and dry.

Sea lions

We’d headed south down the coastline, and were generally observing the ocean, looking for signs of life. At one point we saw a big cluster of birds feeding, which can sometimes be a sign of fish activity and whales. However we didn’t spot any at that location.

Even though we were all staring wideeyed at the water looking for whale activity, the first creatures we saw were some delightful sea lions.

These guys were basking in the sunshine, making a lot of noise, and being a bit brash! I think the location is a regular haunt for these sealions as the team seemed to know they would be there. We got quite close to them as they enjoyed the sun. But they didn’t seem to mind the boatload of tourists observing them at all. The grouped just continued their usual activity, making lots of noise, flopped on the rocks. I have to say, as we did get quite close you could smell them – its was… an interesting scent!

Finding The Whales

After a sail around the beautiful BC coastline and a little sea lion excursion, it was time to see some Orca. Some whales had been sighted in a spot further north from our location. But as there were already some whale watching boats near them we had waited our turn.

So as not to overcrowd the whales there is a limit to how many boats can gather around them. The tour companies contact each other to make sure they all abide by the rules and take turns properly. Each boat is given an hour with the whales and has to maintain a minimum of 200m distance away from them. These steps are to ensure the whales aren’t disturbed or alarmed.

An Hour of Whale Heaven – J Pod

Once we got close enough the captain of our vessel turned off the engine as well, to minimise the noise we were making. From this viewpoint, we were able to watch the beautiful pod of whales frolicking.

The pod we were watching was identified as Southern Resident killer whales, from J Pod. (There are three pods, identified as J, K and L.) Pods tend to be families and are matriarchal, so the grandmother is usually the lead whale, and she leads the group around the coast. The whales are individually identified by their dorsal fins (the big one that you see standing straight up.) Each fin is different, and we were encouraged to take photos and have a look at a list of whales to see if we could identify any from the fins!

We spent a wonderful hour with the whales. They didn’t seem to mind the boat at all, and at one point a couple came really close to us. We saw lots of dipping and diving, some tail slaps, some blowing (where they breath water/snot out of the blowhole on top of their heads!) At one point, a whale launched itself out of the water in a really cool jump!

One thing I will say is that it’s really hard to get good photos of the whales. They’re so quick, looking back at them a lot of my photos are of just the ocean as I missed the whale entirely! The rocking of the boat, and also the distance that the boat maintains away from the whales means it was challenging!

I spent most of my time trying to ‘live’ the moment and really enjoy what I was seeing. I didn’t want to just view them through a lens. One thing I did notice was so many people constantly clicking away on phones and cameras. I made a conscious effort to put the tech down and just enjoy their majesty.

That being said, I did take a few shots!

Towards the end of the hour, we had been allocated with the whales, one came very close to our boat. So instead of switching on the engine to leave, we got a few extra minutes. Once the whale moved further away from us, the captain was able to switch on the engine and we made our way back to Vancouver.

Snacks!

On the return trip, Wild Whales provided us with some granola bar snacks and bottled water to stay hydrated in the warm sunshine.

Ian and I also tucked into our additional vegan rolls and snacks which we’d picked up earlier. We have reasonably big appetities, but I would still recommend taking food and water with you anyway. On a boat in the middle of nowwhere theres nowhere to buy them from, so better safe than sorry eh!

On the return journey, everyone sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the blue skies and mountain vistas. Enthusiastically talking away about the incredible creatures we had seen.

A Perfect Day with Wild Whales Vancouver

For me, the trip and the whole day really was absolute perfection. The tour was run very well, and the team seem to genuinely really care about the whales and are very informed and compassionate. They share their enthusiasm with guests, welcome interest and questions, and gave everyone on board an incredible experience. I could not recommend it more highly.

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