Advocates concerned after grey whale spotted in Vancouver

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]On Monday afternoon, beachgoers and seaw wall walkers were treated to a rare sight in English Bay, a large gray whale feeding near the shoreline.

[00:00:09]>> I was right down on the sand on the sea next to the seaw wall and it was very close, quite extraordinary, quite calm.

[00:00:17]>> This is pretty special to show up in English Bay and yeah, come along with that is people's interest in hopefully um staying away and not getting um too close to the whale. and that's what we want to avoid.

[00:00:30]>> While most onlookers watched from ashore, some did head out onto the water for a closer look.

[00:00:36]>> I saw people getting really excited to be very close to the grey whale. And sometimes when people are so excited, they're that overrides the safety of the whale.

[00:00:48]So, there were a few kayakers that got very, very close.

[00:00:53]>> Folks need to respect this animal's space and distance and and not disturb it. It's important that it's fattening up on its way up to the feeding grounds.

[00:01:02]>> This has been a particularly deadly spring for grey whales on the west coast.

[00:01:07]>> We've had five dead grey grey whales in British Columbia waters in 2026. So, we are concerned and we're going to monitor and assess and do necropsies on these animals if we're able to because it's really important to determine the cause of death.

[00:01:22]>> Because the dead whales appear to be emaciated, there's concern they're not getting enough to eat. this whale it it's it's feeding in shallow water in English Bay. So that's a concern as well if you have boats crowding the animal and we we want to make sure we don't ended up end up with the animal live stranding.

[00:01:38]>> So the DFO is asking whale watchers to remain on shore.

[00:01:42]>> We just want to ensure that this animal has its space and it's able to forge and do what it needs to do without being disturbed by humans.

[00:01:50]>> Everyone knows the grey whale is there now. The whale watching boats, the yachts, the kayakers. How about we all just enjoy the site from a safe distance?