West Vancouver captures otter family and grey whale in single video moment

A West Vancouver resident captured a once-in-a-lifetime moment on video Saturday evening: a family of otters feeding near Dundarave Pier at the same moment a grey whale surfaced nearby.

Andrew Farris, who has lived in West Van most of his life and visits Dundarave Beach several times a week, was recording three young otters and their mother around 7 p.m. on July 18 when he heard the distinctive blow of a whale. He immediately turned his camera and caught the whale coming up briefly before swimming toward Lions Gate Bridge, while the otter family continued feeding undisturbed.

Farris had seen whales offshore and individual otters before, but never both at once—let alone captured together in the same clip. "I've never seen a family of otters before. To see them both at once and catch them in the same video was really cool," he said. "We're very lucky to live in Vancouver."

The pier was quiet during the sightings, with families and children watching calmly from above without disturbing the animals. "I was pleasantly surprised," Farris noted. "People were enjoying it without bothering the animals. The kids thought it was really cool."

The whale is believed to be Old Reliable, a grey whale recently seen in Burrard Inlet and well known to local whale-watching companies. For a city surrounded by ocean and mountains, such moments are a reminder that Vancouver's wildlife appears when least expected—sometimes all it takes is listening for the sound of a single breath.