Watching whales in their own habitat is a dream for many wildlife enthusiasts — and the coast of British Columbia is a great place to head out in search of whales. We booked our Vancouver whale watching trip with Wild Whales Vancouver , who had great online reviews. Our original tour was actually booked for the first Sunday of our Vancouver visit, however, due to high winds at sea, we had to reschedule to later in the week.
The morning tour we chose departs at 9pm, and we arrived super early at 8. Back at the Wild Whales office, our naturalist guide, Martha, introduced herself to the group before getting us all into our flotation suits — basically, full body life jackets — and taking us to the boat. The journey on the Zodiac was an experience in itself; zipping across the water as the Vancouver skyline faded behind us. We headed north into the Strait of Georgia, passing the mouth of Howe Sound, which leads all the way to Squamish, the peaks of British Columbia towering in the distance.
Moving at speed, the ride was exhilarating but drier than I was expecting. Whale watching is a patience game, and companies in the area all work together sharing information on where whales are on the day of the tour. During our boat ride, Martha encouraged us all to be extra pairs of eyes, scanning the horizon for potential fins or tails popping out of the water. We joined up with a larger boat from another company, and eagerly watched the water….
Eventually, a spurt of mist burst from the sea, followed by our first sighting of a whale fin! Martha explained that we were watching a humpback, and we saw the small fin and top of its body poke out of the water a couple of times, before finally seeing its recognisable tail breach out of the water as the humpback took a dive again.
Usually, humpbacks will come up to the surface to breathe a couple of times, before breaching and diving under again. We followed the humpback for a time, watching the pattern repeat, the whole boat quiet with anticipation and awe as we waited for her to return to the surface.
