Whale watching at its finest!

Lunge feeding on krill

Whale watching off Brier Island continues to be amazing! The humpbacks have moved in closer to Brier Island and every day we are seeing and recording new individuals. To date we have sighted three new calves in the Bay of Fundy. The mothers are Shark, Photon and Colorado. For the last two evenings we have been going out on sunset cruises and they have proven to be quite eventful. We witnessed lunge feeding, breaching, flipper slapping and tail lobbing, although this can certainly happen at any time of day.

Close approach by a humpback named Collision

Some new whales that we have identified are: Chorni (who we haven't seen since 2006), Collision, Flash, Cirrus, Lagoon, Flamingo and Half Moon.

Flamingo

Best trip of 2009! (So far....)

The humpbacks have arrived to Brier Island and we couldn't be happier! Especially after our cruise on July 16th when we experienced humpback behaviour at its very best! The whales announced their presence to us by breaching, not just one whale, but 4, who very breaching simultaneously! We didn't know where to look! Two of the whales who were active for us were Foggy and Peajack. Foggy has been sighted every year since 1987 when she was brought to the Bay of Fundy as a calf by her mom, Bermuda. Peajack has been sighted here since 1995.

We also witnessed a very curious humpback named, I-Beam. He approached the boat and spyhopped, having a look at everyone within!

Also sighted was a North Atlantic Right Whale, Minke whales, Fin whales and Harbor Porpoise.

Just some photos

A new whale for us, identified as Drip.

Greater Shearwater

Quixote

Pierce

Going the Distance

Handstand

Badge

Perseverence certainly pays off, so the adage goes. Our whale watch cruises have been going twenty miles offshore to see humpback whales. And the wait has certainly been worth it! When the humpback whales move into the Bay, they tend to go to that area first prior to moving into the coastal waters of Brier Island. Our most recent cruise was yestersay and we recorded 17 different humpback whales which included our first calf of the season. The mother was identified as Shark. Other whales identified were Badge, Circlet, Patchwork, New Moon, and Spika!

So even though our cruises have been a bit longer in duration, they are well worth the extra time. We go the distance to show you the whales of the Bay of Fundy!

Fog Magic

Yep...you guessed it, we have fog! But, that doesn't deter us from whale watching and seeing whales. In fact, some of our best trips can be in the fog. Just recently, we experienced a "friendly" minke whale that seemed to be doing more people watching than anything. In normal fashion for a foggy day, we shut down our engine and listened for the whales' blows to determine their location. We heard this minke and he/she seemed to make a beeline for us! This whale stayed with us for half an hour, paralleling our course, rolling on its side allowing us to see its eye as it watched us! It was truly an awesome sight!

We have also sighted some humpbacks closer to Brier Island. They were identified as Luna, #0034 and the third has yet to be matched to the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalogue. No you can't order one but you can match the fluke print to the thousands of photographs that are in it!

So yes, despite its limited visibility, the fog does hold some magic!