The waters around Victoria are not
as whale-rich as those around
Tofino
, but there's still a very good
chance of spotting the creatures.
Three pods of orcas (killer
whales) live in the seas around
southern Vancouver Island, around
a hundred creatures in all, so you
may see these, though minke are
the most common whale spotted,
with occasional greys and
humpbacks also present. Bar one or
two companies, few outfits offer
guaranteed sightings, and many
cover themselves by preparing you
for the fact that if you don't see
whales you stand a good chance of
seeing harbour of Dall's
porpoises, harbour or elephant
seals and California and Steller
sea lions.
Day- or half-day tours from the
city are becoming massively
popular. A couple of years ago
there were just two or three
companies running tours: now you
can hardly move for them. Most
offer almost identical tours at
identical prices, typically around
$55 to $80 for a three-hour
outing. Most offer full protective
gear, and towels and gloves when
required, and all offer life
jackets and other safety
essentials. Most have a
naturalist, or at least a
knowledgeable crew member, to fill
you in on what you're seeing (or
not). The only real variables are
the boats used, so you need
to decide whether you want
rigid-hull cruisers (covered or
uncovered), which are more
comfortable and sedate (and
usually most expensive at around
$80), a catamaran ($69-80), or the
high-speed aluminium-hull
inflatables known as
"zodiacs" ($55-80),
which are infinitely more
exhilarating, but can offer a fast
and sometimes bumpy ride that
makes them unsuitable for pregnant
women, young children or people
with back problems. They won't
have toilets on board either. You
might also want to find out
whether your chosen company has
hydrophone equipment that enables
you to listen to the whales'
underwater vocalizing.
Note that morning tours can be
less choppy than afternoon
excursions (bad weather will halt
tours), and be sure to take
sunglasses, sun block, a
tight-fitting hat, good soft-soled
footwear, a sound plastic bag for
camera and films and a warm
sweater. Smoking is invariably not
allowed on boats. If you're here
just for the day and travelling on
zodiacs you might want to bring a
change of clothing. Tours often
run a little over the scheduled
time, so don't make any
hard-and-fast plans for catching
buses or ferries.
Drop by the Victoria
Infocentre for details of the
tours and options. Its pamphlet
racks are stuffed with brochures
if you want to compare companies'
PR material. Staff can book you a
place on any tour, and if you call
in early morning they'll probably
have the lowdown from the
companies on whether whales have
been found that day. Companies
tend to pool their information,
and dash headlong to any sighting.
The question of whether the
upsurge in boat activity is
disturbing the whales or changing
their habits seems not to have
been addressed. Rules are in place
regarding the distance boats must
remain from the creatures, but
even some of the companies' own
photographs seem to suggest boats
are getting in extremely close. It
can only be a matter of time
before the whole issue blows up.
All the companies claim to offer
top professional services: the two
below have been around longer than
most.
Seacoast Expeditions are
located across the Inner Harbour
at the Boardwalk Level, Oceane
Pointe Resort, 45 Songhees Rd (tel
383-4383 or 1-800/386-1525, www.seacoastexpeditions.com
). It's ten-minutes' walk across
the Johnson Street bridge or take
the three-minute harbour ferry
crossing to Seacoast: they also
have a shuttle-bus pick-up from
downtown hotels. Victoria's
founding whale-watching company,
they've been in the business over
a decade and offer four three-hour
tours daily in May, June and
September, six daily in July and
August, and one daily in April and
October. They also offer a
guaranteed sighting deal (May-Aug
only) whereby you carry a pager
that tells you to turn up at the
office for a tour only when whales
have been spotted.
Five Star Charters ,
located at 706 Douglas St (tel
386-3253 or 388-7223, www.5starwhale.com
), has in the past claimed the
highest percentage of whale
sightings out of all the tour
operators (thanks to spotter boats
and a good network of contacts).
It runs six daily three-hour tours
in the summer as well as an
all-day tour on its spotter boat.
