| British Columbia Destinations Watching the whales in Vancouver Island waters  Victoria and other parts of Vancouver Island are well known as places to view migrating and resident whales in their natural surroundings.
No other spectacle of nature can compare to the awe-inspiring sight of a massive killer whale breaching out of the deep blue water a little more than 300 feet from the boat.
Whale watching tours can be taken out of Victoria and most larger centres on the Island. The "Look Before You Book" Program encourages visitors to ensure the tour operator they use is a member of the Whale Watch Operators Association and follows the regulations for viewing marine life outlined by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
The best time to see migrating grey whales is during March and April. Orca (killer) whales and other marine wildlife are best observed May through October, with July and August producing the most sightings.
Types of whales in Vancouver Island waters
Grey whale
The grey whale is mottled grey in colour with numerous white, yellow or orange patches of barnacles and parasites around the blowhole, on top of the head and on the fore part of the back. Males are 35 to 50 feet long, and weigh 28 to 38 tons; females are 42 to 50 feet long, with a weight of 34 to 38 tons. Grey whales live 60 to 80 years. A single calf is born every other year.
The grey whale was nearly hunted to extinction in the early 1900s, but its numbers have recovered well since hunting of the species was banned in 1947. There are now more than 23,000 grey whales in the world and they have been removed from the Endangered Species list. Migrating grey whales are best seen from the Pacific Rim region of Vancouver Island.
Orca (killer whale)
The orca or killer whale is the most common whale found in the Victoria area. The orca is shiny black with white patches above and behind each eye, on the chin and throat extending along the belly. The orca has a characteristic dorsal fin, which in the male can measure up to six feet. The male averages 27 feet in length and weighs up to 11 tons; and the female, 23 feet and eight tons.
The orca is an extremely fast swimmer, exceeding speeds of 48 kilometres per hour. It often spyhops (raises its head out of the water to view its surroundings) and breaches (jumps out of the water), making it a wonder for whale watchers. Its blow is up to 10 feet high and often has a loud, explosive sound.
The orca has a well-established family structure, and travels in groups (called pods) for all its life. Each pod contains up to 30 or 40 whales and is structured around the oldest female, with males remaining in their mothers' pods. These groups communicate vocally underwater and each pod uses a slightly different dialect.
Males may not reach maturity until the age of 15 to 20 years, and live 45 to 60 years. Female orcas live 55 to 70 years. The female calves at three-year intervals and has a gestation period of 15 months.
Humpback whale
Humpback whales can be seen to the north of Vancouver Island. The humpback whale is black with white patches on the flippers, bottom surface of the tail flukes and body. Males average 47 feet long; females, 49 feet. Their weight ranges from 25 to 45 tons. The head is flattened and the flippers are the biggest of any species.
These large whales can stay submerged for about thirty minutes, but are usually underwater for shorter periods. They are highly acrobatic animals who breach repeatedly and have a spectacular blow of 10 to 13 feet, ending in a beautiful haze of spray. They feed on krill and schooling fish such as herring, mackerel and cod.
The humpback is usually found in small groups, but the groups are sometimes as large as 200. They mate about every two years and after a year’s gestation period, a 15-foot, two-ton calf is born.
Due to commercial whaling, they are endangered, with only about 2,000 of these whales to be found in the northern Pacific. Now a protected species, their numbers are slowly increasing. Fortunately, many humpbacks are accessible to whale watchers.
Minke whale
Minke whales can sometimes be spotted around Vancouver Island. They have a dorsal fin similar to the female orca, but it is smaller and positioned far back on the body. The minke reaches lengths of up to 32 feet and is a baleen filter feeder. Like other baleen whales, minke feed by filtering seawater through their baleen plates, consuming the small fish and other nutrients they take in.
Victoria’s local whales
The ocean around Victoria is home to a resident community of three orca pods totalling more than 80 whales. In the waters of Northern Vancouver Island, there is another resident community totalling 217 whales which patrol the Johnstone Strait in 16 pods.
The shape of the orca whale’s dorsal fin and the markings on the grey "saddle patch" area behind the fin of each whale is unique and remains consistently identifiable over time. It was in the early 1970s that scientific researchers named the world’s pods by letters and numbers and developed a system of photo-identifying individual whales in order to better understand their natural history and monitor the population.
The southern resident community comprises J, K and L pods. Each whale within the pods is assigned a number, but the whales also have common names that have been given to them by the Centre for Whale Research and the Whale Museum, both on the San Juan Islands.
In the J pod, Ruffles, the largest male, is named for his ruffled dorsal fin. His dorsal fin is estimated at close to six feet in height. Lummi is the oldest killer whale in the three pods. She is female and her estimated year of birth is 1910.
The last adult male with a notched dorsal fin is Mega of the L pod. The notch is caused by a natural occurrence such as a friendly combat. Hugo, Flash and Saanich are three males in the L pod who have just started to "sprout". When a whale reaches the age of 14 or 15 years, its dorsal fin begins to grow or sprout, signaling that the whale is ready to become sexually active.
For more information, see the Whale and Wildlife Watching section of the Tourism Victoria website www.tourismvictoria.com. Or contact Tourism Victoria at 250-953-2033 or toll-free reservations 1-800-663-3883, or email info@tourismvictoria.com.
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