Grey whale makes rare appearance in False Creek

VANCOUVER – A grey whale found its way into False Creek on Wednesday afternoon, swimming just off the Granville Island public market to the amazement of onlookers.

"It’s pretty unusual to have grey whales in False Creek but they do often have pit stops along the coast of southern British Columbia," said Caitlin Birdsall, a research assistant at the Vancouver Aquarium.

The whales mate and give birth along the Baja peninsula during the winter and pass along the Pacific Northwest in the spring as they head north to the Bering Sea to feed.

Birdsall said the whale was reported off the shore of Stanley Park Wednesday morning and later made its way beneath the Burrard Street Bridge.

Jeremy Patterson, the operations manager for Granville Island Ferries, said he first spotted the large whale at about 11:45 a.m. while shuttling passengers between Granville Island and downtown Vancouver.

He said the Coast Guard and police were on the scene assessing the situation and asking vessels to give the whale space until it made its way back out to the sea. Patterson said he directed his ferry drivers to stay as far away from the whale as possible.

"I think it’s a 400-metre restriction but since this is False Creek it’s hard to [keep that distance]," Patterson said.

Patterson said in his 20 years of working for the ferry company he has never seen a whale in False Creek. However, he has seen some dolphins a few years ago.

"People think it’s neat. They want to go for longer trips now," Patterson said while driving his vessel.

He estimated the whale was about 13-metres long, which would make it a mature grey whale.

By 2 p.m. the whale had made its way beneath the Cambie Street where kayakers and some small boats followed at a distance.

"It must feel so trapped because they’re used to the open ocean," said Lucie Spencer-Nairn who stopped along the seawall to take a look.

Next to Spencer-Nairn and her husband was Vancouver Canuck hockey player Willie Mitchell who said it probably wasn’t a good sign the whale was in False Creek. Mitchell grew up in Port McNeill on Vancouver Island and has seen his fair share of whales but never near his waterfront condo.

"Hopefully it’s okay," Mitchell said.

By 2:30 p.m. the whale began making its way back to English Bay and out into open water.

Birdsall said grey whales are not an uncommon sight off the shores of the Lower Mainland, particularly in Boundary Bay and English Bay, where a grey was reported last year.

"They’re very hungry and that’s why they make pit stops," she said.