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From: hmag at infoserve.net (hilary maguire)

Hello Tweets,

I had an astonishing sighting on the Easter weekend.

There was a grey whale at Port Moody, the populated terminus of Burrard
Inlet, on the evening of April 13! Port Moody is about 25 km east of the
port of Vancouver at the end of an inlet well used by both recreational
boaters and freighters coming into the dock at Port Moody. (There is
another arm to Burrard Inlet, called Indian Arm, which, though well used by
recreational boaters, is not used by freighters.)

We first spotted this whale in the evening, not far from shore, about a
kilometre from the end of the inlet, travelling east (toward the end of
the inlet). My friend first caught sight of it blowing, and then we
watched as it moved eastward, fairly slowly, its back visible briefly
after each breath. Once out of our sight, we went down to Old Orchard
Park, very close to the mudflats, and located the whale again. It was now
even closer to the shore - so close we were able to hear it breathing! As
night approached it was harder and harder to see the whale in the dark
shadows of the water, but we could still hear it. After a short
exploration of the area between the park beach and the very shallow water
it turned and headed west again, visible in the water where the land was
not reflected. We lost sight of it in the darkness as evening fell.

I would be interested to know more about other whale sightings in the
waters of, and around, Burrard Inlet. There have been a small number of
orca sightings in Burrard Inlet in the 40 odd years my family has lived
Port Moody. I know of only one occasion, and that was in the '60's, when
orcas came all the way into the bay of Port Moody, and I have never heard
of any larger whales seen anywhere in Burrard Inlet, at any time. I have
heard that Burrard Inlet supported commercial whaling until around the
beginning of this century, but I don't know what species were hunted.

What an experience to be so close to such a creature in our own back yard!

Hilary Maguire
Vancouver, B.C.
hmag at infoserve.net