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 [email protected]

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Whale Sightings

Quiet Oceans: Has the COVID-19 crisis reduced noise in whale habitats?

April 11, 2020

Arctic Connections, Ocean Wise, Whale Sightings

By Dr. Valeria VergaraOcean Wise Marine Mammal Conservation Research Program Photo credit: Valeria Vergara In September 2001, during the aftermath of 9/11, much of the coastal ocean around North Ameri...

A Whale of a Season – Part 1

July 25, 2019

Whale Sightings

Returning from the pilot season of its drone-based killer whale study along the central coast of British Columbia, Ocean Wise’s Marine Mammal Research team marked the sixth year of its photogrammetry project, ...

Bigg’s Killer Whales Hunting Seals in Vancouver Harbour

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

February 19, 2019

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

May 10, 2018

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

December 1, 2017

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

October 26, 2017

Ocean Wise, 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...

Killer whale research Vancouver Aquarium

And Thus, the Cetacean Research Program was Born

June 16, 2016

Vancouver Aquarium, 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....