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Photographing Orcas on Vancouver Is.
Thu, 2010/05/06 - 4:35pm | 
Kelly_Sekhon
Alberto Fernandez Horcajo sent a message using the contact form at http://naturevancouver.ca/contact.
I am a photographer from Barcelona, Spain. Next summer I will be visiting Vancouver Island to photograph killer whales. I will be very pleased if you can inform me about the best locations on Vancouver Island to photograph orcas.
Thank you very much.
Reply from Joan Lopez
Chair, Marine Biology Section
Nature Vancouver
Nature Vancouver
Hi Alberto, Thanks for your inquiry about our local orcas.
If I understand your message correctly, you would like to take photos of killer whales that would include some sort of natural background.
There are two main areas on Vancouver Island from which you might see killer whales. The Southern Resident killer whales (salmon eaters) are frequently seen in the Victoria area, or near southern Vancouver Island, the American San Juan islands, the Canadian Gulf Islands and the Vancouver area. You can go on whale watching trips from Victoria, Sydney, Friday Harbour, Vancouver and Richmond. If you were trying to see whales from shore, the Victoria area or San Juan Islands are your best bet, although it can take days of waiting before killer whales swim by. The Northern Resident killer whales frequent the central to northern portions of Vancouver Island. Whale watch boats depart from Campbell River, Telegraph Cove and Port Hardy. I do not know of anywhere that you might reliably see the Northern Residents from shore. The central to north portion of Vancouver Island will have more wilderness scenery as it is less developed. However it is somewhat more time-consuming to get there.
The third population of killer whales in BC are called Transients. These are the marine mammal hunters and they can be occasionally seen in either the northern or southern areas of Vancouver Island, however, their frequency of sightings is overall much less than the resident type killer whales during the summer.
I hope that helps with your decision. I work for a whale watching company in Richmond and would be interested to know more about your photo project as I share a passion for nature photography.
If I understand your message correctly, you would like to take photos of killer whales that would include some sort of natural background.
There are two main areas on Vancouver Island from which you might see killer whales. The Southern Resident killer whales (salmon eaters) are frequently seen in the Victoria area, or near southern Vancouver Island, the American San Juan islands, the Canadian Gulf Islands and the Vancouver area. You can go on whale watching trips from Victoria, Sydney, Friday Harbour, Vancouver and Richmond. If you were trying to see whales from shore, the Victoria area or San Juan Islands are your best bet, although it can take days of waiting before killer whales swim by. The Northern Resident killer whales frequent the central to northern portions of Vancouver Island. Whale watch boats depart from Campbell River, Telegraph Cove and Port Hardy. I do not know of anywhere that you might reliably see the Northern Residents from shore. The central to north portion of Vancouver Island will have more wilderness scenery as it is less developed. However it is somewhat more time-consuming to get there.
The third population of killer whales in BC are called Transients. These are the marine mammal hunters and they can be occasionally seen in either the northern or southern areas of Vancouver Island, however, their frequency of sightings is overall much less than the resident type killer whales during the summer.
I hope that helps with your decision. I work for a whale watching company in Richmond and would be interested to know more about your photo project as I share a passion for nature photography.
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