Click here to see more photos of the grey whale in False Creek

VANCOUVER - False Creek's newest resident, a mature 12-metre grey whale, is in healthy condition and thought to be feeding on herring, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The whale is believed to be the same one spotted feeding near Squamish over the last two weeks, said Paul Cottrell, the department's marine mammal co-ordinator.

"The herring spawn this year has been greater than in previous years so I think that brings in the marine mammals," he said Thursday.

"It seems to be in good health. There are no indication there are any problems at this time. It is a bit odd it went into False Creek but again it may be related to the food," Cottrell added.

He said in recent years herring have returned to the small inlet where industrial waste once laid claim to its bottom.

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Vancouver whale sighting sparks concerns

The whale was first spotted Wednesday afternoon in False Creek swimming just off the Granville Island public market. By the evening it had made two trips toward the Cambie Street Bridge, including an apparent attempt to catch more herring.

"A sailboat started rocking and rolling and the whale surfaced between the docks. It was unbelievable. It came right up did the blow hole thing. You could see the boat getting tossed, then the whale came up and came parallel with the boat and took off," said Doug Williams, a realtor who was at Stamps Landing pub watching on television the Vancouver Canucks game that was being played just on the other side of False Creek at GM Place.

The whale reappeared in False Creek early Thursday morning and was subsequently spotted in English Bay near Jericho Beach around 9 a.m. Cottrell said the whale was then seen off the shores of West Vancouver around 1 p.m.

The whales mate and give birth along the Baja peninsula during the winter and head north during the spring to the Bering Sea to feed. Along the way it is not uncommon for them to stop in the Pacific Northwest to snack on crustaceans and small fish, Cottrell said.

He noted that his department can tell the grey whale is feeding because it was bringing mud up to the surface. This, he said, indicates the whale is filtering the ocean floor to push out all the critters in what is called benthic feeding.

"The animal is just foraging on its way and will likely move on when the food gets a bit sparse," Cottrell said.

He also said over the last few weeks about 150 Pacific white-sided dolphins have been feeding on herring in Howe Sound, which is another rare sight for the area.

"It's a very good sign," he said.

According to Cottrell, DFO and the Coast Guard had two boats monitoring the whale along Vancouver's shores on Wednesday and Thursday. However, they were not following it closely other than the times it came into False Creek.

Each day officers documented the whale's movements and made sure boaters didn't get too close, which is forbidden under federal law.

"As a rule of thumb the maximum approach distance is 100 meters. If you're getting closer than that you're likely impacting the whale," he said.

Click here to see more photos of the grey whale in False Creek.

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