Another whale was spotted near a popular Vancouver park but it's not necessarily a good thing
Whale sightings in Vancouver seem to be happening on almost a daily basis, and in areas that we aren’t too used to seeing them in.
Daily Hive obtained footage of another whale sighting from Vancouver resident (and Daily Hive alumna) Beth Rochester, this time near Vanier Park and English Bay, earlier this week.
So many whale spottings in #Vancouver lately. This one was near Vanier Park.
Credit: @BethRochester24 pic.twitter.com/sTVbzp18Er
— Amir Ali ⌨️☕️🏴☠️ (@AmirsDoingItAll) May 13, 2026
Rochester said that at the time she spotted the whale, it had been around for about 30 minutes, “loosely breaching.”
There have been lots of posts on social media about whale sightings in Vancouver, including a couple we’ve covered, like the pod of orcas by the Lions Gate Bridge, and a grey whale that was spotted in a few Vancouver spots.
Rochester’s sighting appears to be of another grey whale, and the presence of that species of whale in and around Vancouver isn’t necessarily a good thing.
Daily Hive recently spoke to Andrew Trites, a UBC professor and the director of the marine mammal research unit, about the seeming spike in whale sightings.
Trite said that both humpback and grey whales migrate from southern waters up north for summer feeding. While he said it’s normal, he also said this is part of the ‘new normal.’
For grey whales, however, their sudden presence in local waters may be a sign of desperation.
“Some of those whales are starving, and some of them are stopping to feed,” Trite said. “It’s unusual. They don’t come in here usually, but if they’re short of food, we start to see them showing up in places we don’t see them normally.”
The grey whales are unfamiliar with the Vancouver area, and Trites said they are trying to figure out if it’s a good place to feed.
Trites said that while researchers don’t know for sure what has happened to the grey whale’s food, they think it is likely a climate change effect.
With files from Hanna Hett