Wild Whales Vancouver

Another excursion ticked off the list! We got up early yesterday and made the trip to Granville Island where we donned our weather-proof boating gear and got aboard the Wild Whales Vancouver 23-person boat and headed south down the coast to spot us some whales. We got an amazing view of the Downtown and Kitsilano on our way out and were soon on the open sea.

Our on-board hippy guide, Crystal tried to keep us entertained with some facts, but a) we could barely hear over the roar of the engine and b) we were too busy taking in all the views. We had chosen the middle seats, which were the least noisy and bumpy, but we did get seawater to the face from time to time. The journey took about 3 hours to get to where they thought the whales were. Some of it is repetitive open sea, but towards the end are an amazing cluster of islands.

On the way there and back we saw wildlife including:

• bald eagles
• harbour seals
• mountain goats/deer

There are a number of spectacular houses on the islands, with outdoor decking, conservatories and lots of glass fronts for sea views. Our journey took us into American waters, off the Seattle coast, so I guess technically I've been to 'merica now.

When we finally got to the area it wasn't long until we spotted our first whale in the distance. There was a mad scramble on the boat as everyone vied for the best position, though we needn't have bothered as the boat drifted around so everyone got a good view in the end. We were lucky in that we saw a large pod of up to or more than ten Orca. Unfortunately they were hugging the coastline and the law abiding Canadians that were in charge wouldn't get closer than allowed, whereas the American boats were practically driving through the group. 'MERICA. The group we saw were resident Orcas. These had to surface for air quite often, which meant we saw them quite often. They weren't very showy however (the feckers) so often we just saw a fin in the distance, and the odd time one would pop his head out or smash the water with his tail.

After an hour (that felt like 10 minutes) it was time to head back, even though we only saw them from a distance I really wanted to see more and have to count myself lucky to have seen whales in the wild, because not everyone can.

I was hoping to see whales a bit closer up and was feeling the price we paid was a little on the steep side so it was an amazing piece of luck that we happened across a transient group of Orcas on the way back. We got much closer and got to see some more behaviours (tail-slaps, etc, basically them getting out of the water). It is also very rare that anyone gets to see both the resident and transient pods in the same day (apparently).

Though the price did seem a bit dear, once I think about it I really couldn't afford NOT to go on this trip. The scenery was unbelievable, the tour guide was great and I have seen whales in the wild now. Sweeet.