Whale Sightings

In collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Vancouver Aquarium’s BC Cetacean Sightings Network collects data on cetaceans and sea turtles in British Columbia. Public sightings are reported by residents, boaters and professionals and are used to inform research, conservation and recovery actions. Report your sighting to 1 866 I SAW ONE, www.wildwhales.org or sightings@vanaqua.org

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Whale Sightings

Bigg’s Killer Whales Hunting Seals in Vancouver Harbour

Ocean Wise

April 25, 2019

Whale Sightings

Vancouver, B.C. – For the second time in as many weeks, a group of Bigg’s, or transient killer whales, swam into the Vancouver Harbour yesterday to hunt seals. Bigg’s killer whales, unlike resident killer whale...

Springer’s Success Story

Ocean Wise

February 19, 2019

Aquablog, Marine Mammal Rescue, Ocean Wise, Vancouver Aquarium, Whale Sightings

In 2002, an orphaned killer whale, Springer (A73), brought together scientists, government officials and concerned citizens in the first orca recovery effort of its kind. Seventeen years after Springer’s rescue...

A Mother’s Love

Ocean Wise

May 10, 2018

Aquablog, Marine Mammal Rescue, Ocean Wise, Whale Sightings

Much like humans, mothers play an important role in killer whale culture. Killer whales are highly social, group-living animals whose social structure revolves around females. For some members of the animal kin...

Drawing a Humpback Whale, All 14 Metres

Ocean Wise

December 1, 2017

Aquablog, Education, Ocean Wise, Vancouver Aquarium, Whale Sightings

Inside a half-renovated garage in Squamish, BC, a grade-six student poured the last light of every school day into one huge project: a life-sized drawing of a humpback whale. The days were growing shorter, the ...

Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program Marks 25th Anniversary

Ocean Wise

October 26, 2017

Ocean Wise, Research Site - CORI, Whale Sightings

Since 1992, the Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program has supported ground-breaking research by the Marine Mammal Research Program at the Coastal Ocean Research Institute, an Ocean Wise initiative. In the past, th...

And Thus, the Cetacean Research Program was Born

Vancouver Aquarium

June 16, 2016

Vancouver Aquarium, Videos, Whale Sightings

Summer after summer, tourists and locals alike flock to coastal B.C. for the chance to glimpse killer whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, humpback whales and other marine mammals in their natural environment....

The 411 on the Humpback Whale in English Bay

Vancouver Aquarium

April 26, 2016

Whale Sightings

There’s been a lot of excitement in Vancouver over the sightings of a young humpback whale who’s been making regular appearances in English Bay. While we on the West Coast are used to encounters with wildlife —...

Rare Risso’s Dolphin Provides Learning Opportunity

Vancouver Aquarium

February 26, 2016

Whale Sightings

They say timing is everything, so it was serendipitous that two researchers from Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre were on hand on Haida Gwaii this week when a deceased Risso’s dolphin washed up on a bea...