Gray whale visits downtown Vancouver

Photo by Andrea (Picasa)

Today was a pretty awesome day to be in False Creek! Earlier last week, the first gray whale in 100 years was spotted in Howe sound, and that was cool in itself. But, then that big creature made its way to the downtown Vancouver core and it swam into False Creek, even stopping in front of Science World and it caused quite the stir in the city. Helicopters were buzzing around in the sky for a few hours, trying to follow the path of the massive creature and caught some neat footage (see the CTV link at the bottom). The whale dwarfed onlooking kayaks and even some yachts, which isn’t surprising as they can grow up to 14.6 m! Think the size of a school bus. Huge.

Now, I know what you’re thinking…aren’t there many whales off the shores of BC? Well, it’s certainly not uncommon to see orcas and dolphins in the Georgia Straight, but to see a gray whale in False Creek (which used to be an industrial harbor and still somewhat is over at Granville Island)?! That’s unheard of! Gray whales are usually found off the West coast of Vancouver Island (Tofino’s area). What brought this guy here? We’re not entirely sure…It came in around 12pm and made its way back out around 3pm and who knows where it will stop next.

Head over to CTV British Columbia to see some video of the whale.