CALLING ALL WILDLIFE ENTHUSIASTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS & WHALE GEEKS!
SpringTide Whale Watching is now accepting applications for Volunteer opportunities for this season. We are looking for great people with a passion for Wildlife to join us. You can volunteer for one week or one month! There are still a few opportunities remaining for July and September.
Simply contact us with your availability and a short cover letter introducing yourself to Joanne@SpringTideCharters.com
Successful applicants will hear from us within 2 to 3 days.
We have had some amazing volunteers join us over the years; here’s what some of them wished to share with you about their time at SpringTide.
VOLUNTEERING WITH SPRINGTIDE!
This summer has been one of the most memorable and fulfilling – all thanks to SpringTide.
On a whim, I went into SpringTide to find out about volunteer opportunities and it turned out they have an amazing program. I was able to get onto the boat and volunteer around my work schedule (as much as I wanted!) I have spent invaluable time learning from the marine biologists, naturalists & Captains on board. I was even able to go onto any zodiac trip that had room!
Everyone is so friendly and accommodating; I enjoyed every second of my volunteering with SpringTide and if I weren’t moving away from Victoria, I would certainly be volunteering again next year!!
Thank you to everyone at SpringTide especially the owners: Joanne and Dan along with Captain Ian and Chief Mate Yves, Marcus, Heather, Fiona, Georgina, and Alex for making this summer so memorable!
Alyssa Ouslis (Victoria, BC)
A WISH COME TRUE!
“One of my biggest dreams, since I was eight years old, was to see Killer Whales. I wanted not just to see them, but to study their way of life in their natural habitat and observe how they communicate with each other.
I am from Slovenia and the length of our coastline is just 46.6 kilometres. Whales are very rare in the Adriatic Sea, so it was mission impossible to live my dream in my home country.
Twenty years after dreaming up this dream, I spent a summer in Canada on a Working-Holiday Visa. I visited Victoria in April and I took a tour with SpringTide on one of their Zodiacs. My dream to see Orca (Killer Whales) came true. It was the best day in my life!!!
All summer I thought about that amazing experience and wished to spend more time with these gorgeous animals. At the end of the summer, I finally gathered the courage to send a request to volunteer at SpringTide. I was more than happy when I got back an email saying that they were happy to have me, as a volunteer, on their boats.
I must say that I had time of my life! I spent ten days working at SpringTide. The team is really the best team, with a big passion for nature and whales. It was a unique experience; every day I spent watching Orca, Humpbacks, Sea Lions and Seals. By the end of my volunteer experience, I had gained so much knowledge about the marine life surrounding Victoria.
I am very grateful to SpringTide for giving me an amazing experience, which I will never forget! And, I would just like to say that dreams can come true, even if you are from a little country like Slovenia, you must just follow your dreams and passion!”
Katja Ahacic (Slovenia)
MY WEEK WITH SPRINGTIDE
“I’ve never seen so many Killer Whales! Every day was better than the day before, and every day was really exciting! I met so many friendly people from all over the world and I really felt comfortable being a part of the SpringTide team.
When the Zodiacs weren’t full, I had the chance to go out on these really fast boats, and on other occasions, I went out on Marauder IV, the bigger, covered boat. On Marauder IV, I helped passengers, talked to them about the wildlife and then helped to clean the boat after the tours. For me, the most important thing was having the opportunity to learn so much about all the marine mammals. We got to see so many whales: sometimes they were just travelling, but sometimes they jumped out of the water or showed us their tail. I saw big Humpback Whales, Resident and Transient Killer Whales, Minke Whales, Sea Lions and Seals.
And, if all the jobs were done and there was no space on the boat, I just spent time exploring Victoria and visiting places like the Fisherman’s Wharf, the Royal BC Museum and the beautiful Downtown area. I had such an amazing time at SpringTide. I will never forget it. Thank you so much for this wonderful week! I will miss you.”
Anna (Freiburg, Germany)
A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE
I volunteered at Springtide Whale watching in Victoria in 2018 for a few weeks. It was a wonderful experience, as I had the chance to see whales day by day. Joanne, the owner, never doubted to welcome me whatever time-frame I had in mind and without knowing me before. Her friendly invitation and openness to me without knowing me helped me to look forward to my trip to Victoria.
Whales have been my passion from a very early age. I was fascinated by these wonderful animals as a child and never missed any opportunity to do a whale watching during a vacation. My volunteering for several weeks helped me to understand deeper my passion for whales. I chose Springtide because of the fact that they care about the protection of whales. Their ships use ecological cleaning articles and, what is most important, they respect the distance to whales and always show respect in front of the animals. There is also a great customer centricity and the young and diverse team lead by Joanne show always that they have fun at work.
Being on the ocean every day is totally different to my job at a software company where I do project management in an office. I learned that being out on the ocean all day long can be very exhausting and I admire everybody who does that for many years and enjoys it. I appreciated also very much that I could learn a lot about whales from the very professional biologists on board. Everything at Springtide is very professional and they care about their employees as well as about the wonders of the sea.
I encourage everybody to make a similar experience! I always dreamt of it. But now, my kids being older, I just did it and left my home in Germany for 4 weeks to come to Victoria. I will never forget my time there.
Isa Sammet (Germany)