A group of whale watchers got the sighting of a lifetime off the coast of Vancouver Island recently.<\/p>\n
Mollie Cameron, a skipper with Sooke Coastal Explorations, said they had a group out on the water on June 28 and heard about a group of orcas off Sooke.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a report that there was a fin whale<\/a> a bit further west than where we are and the weather was not super cooperative, so we weren\u2019t sure if we were going to make it over there, but the tide changed and the weather really calmed down and made it for the best experience for us,\u201d she told Global News.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were really excited to see that animal.\u201d<\/p>\n Cameron said the size of the fin whale was \u201cunbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe see humpbacks pretty regularly here, but even in comparison to a humpback, it was just breathtaking to see that large of an animal, the second-largest animal in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Eagle Wing Tours, which also had a boat in the area, estimated the fin whale was 70 feet (20 metres) long.<\/p>\n Fin whales are second only to blue whales when it comes to size, according to the IFAW.<\/a> They weigh around 3,600 pounds (1,600 kilograms) at birth and can average about 99,000 pounds (45,000 kilograms) \u2014 more than fully loaded tractor-trailer \u2014 when full grown.<\/p>\n