One whale-watched said it appeared to be a mother orca with a large dorsal fin and three to four young orcas.

Tuesday’s (September 29) sighting of a gray whale swimming and possibly feeding right off the Stanley Park Seawall brings recent sightings up to three in that area. It isn’t clear if it is the same whale or different whales in the widely reported incidents since August 12. One whale, perhaps the same animal each time, was observed for days in the same area in English Bay, sometimes travelling into Burrard Inlet and off West Vancouver’s Ambleside Beach.

Researchers say their absence is a stark reminder that the orcas are slowly starving to death because there is not enough Chinook salmon to sustain them.

Tens of thousands of seals in the Salish Sea are devouring millions of adult and juvenile salmon, sparking renewed debate about a cull.