Spending our days on the ocean with some of the biggest animals on the planet certainly never gets old, and we’re fortunate that we’re able to share these encounters with such engaged and excited guests every day. One of the best parts of the job is answering all the questions we get asked about the whales and using our expert knowledge to help everyone get to know who we’re spending time with, but with such mysterious lifestyles and numerous appearances in folklore around the world, it’s understandable that there’s a fair few misconceptions floating around!

Here’s a few of our more frequent questions myth-busted – with some other favorite fictitious factoids for good measure!

Are whales aggressive?

All animals are capable of aggression when provoked – it’s part of survival. This includes whales, and there have been numerous documented cases of aggression from whales towards boats, people, and each other throughout history. The key word of note here, however, is ‘provoked’; most cases of whale aggression towards humans are the result of boats or people getting too close to them, threatening their young, harming them in some way, or interrupting their mating systems.

We are proud to work within strict laws that regulate how close and how fast we can approach the whales, and are always delighted to see that it does not affect their behaviour around us. Over the years we’ve witnessed playing, feeding, and even breeding right alongside our boat, so it’s safe to say that the whales certainly feel comfortable in our presence! We have never witnessed any aggressive behaviour towards ourselves or any other boat, and are confident that we won’t do so on your tour or any other!

Can whales eat humans?

Tales of man-eating whales are as old as time. From the biblical book of Jonah, which preaches the giving of second chances as experienced by a man who survived being swallowed by a whale, to the 1851 classic novel ‘Moby Dick’, which depicts one man’s quest for vengeance against the whale that bit off his leg, humans have long been concerned with the idea that they might be swallowed by a mighty whale.

The reality is far less concerning. There is only one species of whale even capable of swallowing a human – the sperm whale, which is indeed the species described in ‘Moby Dick’ – and it certainly has no interest in us. Sperm whale diets consist almost entirely of squid, which have no bones and a very different texture to humans. It’s likely that if a sperm whale ever did accidentally take a bite out of a person, it would not recognise them as edible and would spit them straight out again before even thinking about swallowing.

As for the baleen whales, the risk is lower still. Designed with a diet of small fish and even smaller krill in mind, they simply do not have the physiology to fit a human down their throats. The humpback whale in particular has a throat that is only the size of a grapefruit, which would barely fit an adult arm, let alone the rest of them!

Are orcas dangerous?

While there have been a handful of tragic incidents involving humans and orca in captivity, there has never been a confirmed record of a person being killed by an orca in the wild. International reports of orcas attacking boats, while surprising, are not indicative of aiming to cause intentional harm to people, and it’s certainly not a behaviour that has ever been witnessed in Canadian waters.

Elsewhere in the world these top predators can go after fish, sharks, or even mammals like whales (their alternative name, ‘killer whales’, is derived from the descriptive term ‘killer of whales’), but despite having both resident and transient populations here in the Salish Sea, you’re only in danger if you’re a seal, a porpoise, or a salmon!

How big are they really?

When we’re fortunate enough to have a whale surprise us close to our boat, it’s easy to be astounded by their size – they are, after all, among some of the largest animals on our planet. To get a sense of scale, it’s natural to want to compare them to known entities, but things can easily get out of proportion.

Have you ever heard it said that a blue whales’ heart is the size of a car, or that a human could swim through their arteries? They’re common comparisons, but sadly both misconceptions: the blue whale heart isn’t far off the smallest car ever manufactured (which measured a relatively miniscule 3.91ft in height by 3.41ft in width), but is considerably smaller than a modern car, while their arteries are closer in diameter to a dinner plate than a swimming lane.

Scale is particularly difficult to grasp when you’re looking at an animal in the water, because what we see of the whale is often a small percentage of their body. If you’re ever lucky enough to see them fully breach out of the water, you’ll have a better idea of just how big they can get! We also like to use comparisons to help our guests understand the animals they’re in the presence of – humpback whales, for example, can grow up to 60ft in length, which is almost as long as our 61ft Ocean Cruiser Marauder IV. Meanwhile, male Bigg’s orcas can grow up to 24ft in length, which happens to be just shy of our 28ft Zodiac Fastide!

Do whales sleep?

Yes! Whales and dolphins need sleep just as much as the rest of us as it’s an important part of restoring their energy, resting their brains, and keeping them healthy. Crucial though sleep is, though, they do have a slight disadvantage in navigating how to breathe when drifting off. They can’t rest at the surface the whole time, as this would require active swimming that would tire them out more, and leave them vulnerable to threats above the water like boats, birds, or even sunburn. They can’t stay underwater the whole time, as they are mammals and need to breathe air. So what’s the way forward?

Whales have evolved an ingenious way around this issue – they sleep with only one half of their brain at a time, while the other half stays awake. The awake half takes over their movements, making sure they slowly and gently come back to the surface to breathe when needed without using up too much energy. It also keeps an eye out for danger, so if a large boat or predator approaches, the whale will wake up and escape. Meanwhile, the asleep half of the brain gets to rest, before the two switch over to ensure both sides get their beauty sleep!

Can they breathe under water?

Like us humans, whales (and dolphins) are mammals, not fish, meaning they need to breathe air – they don’t have gills, and they can’t take a breath anywhere other than at the surface. This means they have evolved some incredibly impressive breath-holding capabilities, and are capable of swimming long distances, feeding, and diving on only one breath – the longest recorded dive, in a Cuvier’s Beaked whale, was 3 hours and 42 minutes long.

Breathing air is just one of the typical mammalian traits that whales display – they also give birth to live young following a pregnancy, lactate and feed their young with this milk, and have hair (or hair follicles, depending on the species), though the latter is primarily used to help them sense their environment rather than keep them warm.

Are they just big dolphins?

Whales and dolphins are both cetaceans, but that does not mean they are one in the same. Cetaceans can be divided into two groups: the baleen whales, and the toothed whales. Toothed whales include all whales with teeth and all dolphins, while baleen whales include all filter-feeding whales and no dolphins. As all dolphins are whales, but not all whales are dolphins, you can see why it gets confusing!

Orca are known to be the largest member of the dolphin family, meaning they are closer related to dolphins than they are to other toothed whales (such as sperm whales). In a sense, they are ‘just’ big dolphins, though their size and colouration means they look unlike any other species. Their behaviour also sets them apart from other dolphin species in that they are capable of cooperatively hunting large prey – in some places, they can take down other whales far larger than themselves!

As for baleen whales, they are very different to dolphins indeed. Their swimming patterns, social behaviours, and most importantly their feeding habits all display this clearly. Their anatomy helps as well: baleen whales tend to have a relatively smaller dorsal fin (if they have any dorsal fin at all), and two blow holes instead of one. With baleen plates instead of teeth, they feed on krill and small fish in large groups by lunging through them, unlike dolphins who will actively hunt larger fish and even other mammals. They also tend to be much larger than dolphins – the humpbacks we see here are on average twice the length of even the biggest male orcas!