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Whales in Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm: a short history of sightings

Killer whales once used Indian Arm often. After decades away, Bigg's killer whales now visit Burrard Inlet and the arm a few times a year, and humpbacks have turned up in the harbour.

Whales in Indian Arm sound unlikely. The fjord sits in the middle of Metro Vancouver, behind a working port. But researchers say killer whales used the arm often a century ago, and they have started coming back.

The return of the orcas

The killer whales you might see here are Bigg’s killer whales, also called transients. They hunt seals and sea lions, and Indian Arm holds a healthy seal population. Researchers have tied the rise in local sightings to that food supply.

A few visits made the news:

  • **March 2015:** a family group of orcas swam through the harbour and as far as Belcarra before heading back out under the Lions Gate Bridge.
  • **April 2019:** a mother and her four offspring passed under the Second Narrows Bridge and up into Indian Arm.
  • **March 2020:** with the port quiet during the pandemic, a pod of four travelled far up the arm. A longtime resident said it was the first time in 59 years he’d seen whales that far up.
  • **March 2024:** SeaBus passengers watched a pod surface beside them in the middle of the harbour.

Local paddling guides in Deep Cove now report seeing orcas in the inlet a couple of times a year.

Humpbacks too

Humpback whales have recovered along the BC coast, and a few have wandered into the harbour. In May 2020, residents of a Burnaby retirement home filmed a humpback breaching east of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, and the port’s harbour patrol photographed another later that month. Before that, the sightings network had only a couple of records of humpbacks that far into the harbour in twenty years.

Odds of a sighting

Low. Whales visit a handful of times a year and stay for hours, not days. Treat a sighting as a lucky bonus. Your best chances come in spring, and on busy days you’ll hear about it on the water before you see it.

If you see one

Follow our whale watching rules, and report the sighting to the BC Cetacean Sightings Network through the WhaleReport app. Researchers use those reports to track the whales’ return.

Book the boat and keep your eyes open.