Finding Whales

Over the years, we’ve heard some entertaining theories about how members of the Pacific Whale Watch Association locate whales. Some of our favorites include that we hire daily scouting planes, play sounds underwater to lure whales near, or even that we feed them (which would be highly illegal).

Contrary to urban legend, Salish Sea whales aren’t tagged or trained to show up on demand. Whales are constantly on the move, capable of travelling more than 100 miles in a single day. Where whales are one day is rarely where they’ll be found the next, so each and every morning we start our search anew. Fortunately, through lots of teamwork, PWWA members are able to find whales on nearly every tour.

Collaboration

The Pacific Whale Watch Association is unique in that our member companies all work together, as a community, to locate whales and other wildlife.

Departing from 24 different ports in Washington and British Columbia, our members coordinate their search efforts, searching different regions throughout the day. When whales are found, that information is shared with other PWWA members. While not all whales will be within range of all PWWA members, there are usually multiple whales or groups of whales in the area, allowing for multiple whale watching opportunities.

Additional Tools

While we do find whales “the old fashioned way”, we use several tools to maximize your chances of seeing whales in the wild. Some of the tools available to PWWA members include:

• An encrypted PWWA radio channel for PWWA members only

• The private PWWA App to share real-time whale sightings

• Social media groups

• An extensive sightings network of both shore-based and boat-based observers

• A local hydrophone network

Not all tour operators in the Salish Sea belong to the PWWA. The only way to ensure you’re supporting skilled, licensed professionals who work together to provide superior experiences for guests and whales is by choosing a company belonging to the Pacific Whale Watch Association.