The Vancouver Group Chat: What your friends are talking about this week (May 5)

Welcome back to the Vancouver Group Chat, a roundup of some of the city’s hottest updates of the week. If you’re looking for a snapshot of what’s going on in the city, consider this your go-to source, or at least one of them!

We’ve now entered the month of May, AKA one of Vancouver’s best months of the year. The foliage is green and lush, the trees are brimming with new leaves, and people are flocking to the beach, and we’re only halfway into spring! Last week, we made the most of the beautiful weather by adding a returning patio series to our calendars, went over a couple of major new openings, and shouted out some celebrity and whale sightings.

This week, there’s more happening in the world of whales, and we’re diving into all things summer, since it certainly feels like it’s here.

Anyways, enough of the prelude. Here’s what’s worth hitting “send” in your group chats this week.

What’s new, Vancouver?

Whale meets jet skier

With so many recent whale sightings at Kits Beach, English Bay, and beyond, it’s hard to understand how some people can be so in awe and how others can be so reckless.

A Reddit post is going viral of a jetskier speeding across the water by Stanley Park’s Siwash Rock, slamming into a beautiful grey whale. While Reddit commenters assure that the cops and the Coast Guard were on the scene shortly after, it’s not an easy watch by any means.

“It was a shocking thing to witness,” shares one commenter who was present for the incident. “A bunch of people had gathered on the seawall to watch the whale, and a jet skier kept speeding very fast back and forth. People on the shore were yelling for him to slow down and signalling that there was a whale, but he just kept ripping.”

“There’s no propeller on a jet ski, and it weighs 500 lbs, versus 25,000 lbs for the grey whale,” says another. “The whale is likely having a very bad day but will be fine.”

Kits Pool reopening

Yes, you read that right. If everything goes according to plan, the City of Vancouver plans to reopen Kitsilano Pool by mid-June. Apparently, the beloved outdoor pool still needs repairs to its pipes and basin before opening, and needs to pass an annual inspection.

As the pool has reached the “end of its functional life,” every season it reopens, repairs become more and more complex. The City is looking at investing tens of millions of dollars into either its extension, renovation, or complete replacement, each of which is more costly than the last.

It seems like any way you slice it, it’s going to be an expensive venture. But if Kits Pool isn’t a quintessential part of Vancouver summers, we don’t know what is.

Gosling season

If you’re seeing more goose…excrement… than usual, it could be because it’s gosling season. Just the other day, someone recorded an adorable school of goslings (baby geese) on Granville Island, heading to the water to quench their thirst.

Keep your eyes out for more adorable goslings (and their overprotective parents) along the False Creek seawall, near English Bay, and Jericho Beach.

Nick Jonas loves Vancouver

Jonas Brothers fans, we need you to lock in. Nick Jonas has been in the city for a couple of weeks filming White Elephant, and he just shared a ton of love for the city in a recent vlog.

His favourite coffee order is an americano with a dash of cream from Nine Bar Coffee, he loves playing darts at Soho, and he’s as in love with Vancouver’s cherry blossoms as we are. An honorary Yaletown boy through and through!

Openings to look forward to

Mandy’s is opening their first West Coast location in Kitsilano this summer, and there’s a gourmet salad with your name on it. And if that’s not enough to get you craving something healthy and refreshing, there’s another location set to open in Coal Harbour this fall!

Your sign to do something random

If you’re new here, consider this your sign to try something completely new, or press “go” on something you’ve been putting off. Go on a nature walk, check out an all-purple art show, or listen to a new sound installation at the VPL. Whatever you choose to do with your coveted free time, enjoy it well. It’s these moments that make a life!

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