Sightings are Great!

Whales a plenty! We are just amazed at the number of whales that continue to frequent the Nova Scotia side of the Bay of Fundy and we seem to be seeing different individual humpack whales everyday. We have now documented 17 new calves to the Bay of Fundy. Although not quite to last year's record of 19, we still have a bit of time to go and anxiously await to see if there are more to come. THe Gulf of Maine's entire population, of which our whales are included, is around 800 humpbacks. We have had a report that the calf count is now at 77, an all time high! THe latest mothers to arrive to the Bay of Fundy are Vibes and NAHWC#0034.

Our sunset cruises have been awesome with lots of activity! Sockeye continues to amuse us and we have had a new friendly whale join the ranks. His name is Scream and the last time we saw him was in 2006. We are so glad that he retuned to the Bay of Fundy!

There has been an increase in sightings of right whales the last few days. This species is usually found in the Grand Manan Basin which is about 20 miles north from Brier Island so they are not usually seen on our cruises which are only about 5 miles from the island.

We have identified some new humpback whales in our area. They are: Vee, Ase, Churchill, Scream, Wigwam, Arch, Peajack, Cone, and Slingshot.

Humpback Whales in Grand Passage!

What a way to celebrate our anniversary! Much to everyone's surprise and delight, four humpback whales came through Grand Passage from St. Mary's Bay and continued through the passage into the Bay of Fundy. Whales will travel through occasionally but usually the smaller minke whales. THe shoreline was lined with spectators and the ferry slowed so that their passengers could have a look. We were able to obtain excellent photographs and we were able to identify them as Flash, Frost, Cone, and Tusk!

The month of "Fogust"

Luna tail lobbing

The fog continues to linger over the Bay of Fundy! We have had a bit of reprieve and have been delighted with the amount of whales that are present near Brier Island. Spouts from the whales could be seen and heard in every direction! We were able to identify many of the individual humpbacks and were pleased to document some new calves! Our calf count in the Bay of Fundy is now at 15. The latest new mothers to arrive in the Bay are: Bungee, Clamp, Milkyway, and Teather. Sadly, we have to report that the last time that Rooftop was seen, she did not have her calf with her. Other humpback whales that have been sighted are: Doublet, Tusk, Sickle, Hopper, Cloud (the oldest whale of known age, born in 1977 to Istar), Peajack, Pendiente and Tigris.

We will be celebrating our 22nd anniversary on August 22nd and will offer our guests a great discount at $22 plus tax per person! Not an offer to be missed!

It can't get any better than this!

What a spectacular cruise! On August 8, 2008 we were treated to every type of humpback whale behaviour that can be seen on the feeding grounds! First of all, we watched Rooftop and her 2008 calf. Both approached the boat as if to inspect it and then the calf started to tail breach which is when they throw their tails out of the water and land on their sides. It did this several times and very close to the boat. We were never in any danger and in fact, our guests were very proud of the fact that they got splashed by a whale!

While we were watching them, the captain noticed two whales breaching the distance so we headed in their direction as they continued that behaviour much to our amusement. It is amazing to think that a 40 ton whale can have that much power in their tail to lift that enormous body that far out of the water.

We have also been pleased to see Sockeye for the last couple of days in the Bay of Fundy. He is a rather odd looking whale as he has an under bite making him look like a sockeye salmon, hence the name. He is known to be very curious and approached the Mega Nova giving us a very good look at his lower jaw.

It really cannot get any better than this!

Sockeye's under bite

Lacuna - The star of the season!

Eye to eye with a humpback whale!

Our whale watch cruises have been excellent with sightings of humpback whales everyday! And even in the fog! Though more difficult to locate the whales because of the reduced visibility, the end result has never been disappointing thus far! The star of the season so far has been Lacuna, an adult male that we have been sighting here in the Bay of Fundy since 2003. He has turned out to be a very curious individual and will often approach our whale watching boats. On a couple of occasions he has rubbed the bottom of the boat with his back. We knew at all times that we were never in any danger. At one point, our guest were playing music to him and he was very interested in the sound approaching very closely to where the sound was emanating. The Captain was on the bow watching the whale and sat on the pulpit which is at the bow of the boat. Lacuna surfaced under him and Spouted directly under him, surrounding Harold in a cloud of whale spray! We like to think that this was deliberate!

Another favourite has been Rooftop and her 2008 calf. The calf has also turned pout to be very curious and will often flipper slap and roll next to the boat.

Playing music to Lacuna!

Other humpbacks that have been identified are: Python, Cirrus, Quote and calf, Sunburst and Patches.

Some Friendly Humpback Whales

Nine's 2008 calf coming in for a close look

The last few days have been very interesting on the Bay of Fundy. We have seen a few humpback whales move closer to Brier Island and we are documenting new individuals every day. To date, we have documented 53 individual humpback whales including 8 new calves. The latest to be brought to the Bay was Nine and her calf. Nine has only been sighted here one other year and that was in 2006 and she soon became a favourite among all of the crew because she turned out to be a very friendly whale often approaching the boats in curious behaviour. Her calf has also learned this behaviour from its mother and was very curious of our boats, the Cetacean Search and the Mega Nova. The calf would spyhop and roll and its eye appeared to be on the occupants on the boats. It truly is an amazing experience when a whale chooses to do this and something you'll never forget!

Our anniversary day was very successful. We celebrated our 22nd year of whale watching by offering an amazing discount which will be offered again on August 22 and September 20, 2008. The price per person is $22 + tax, a very good opportunity to see these whales in their own habitat. On July 22nd, it was very windy and choppy but we were able to get all of our cruises out that day. We documented a few new whales such as Littlespot, Lagoon, and Fan. Shark was active much to our delight. She would roll on her side and slap her long pectoral flippers on the surface of the water in a resounding smack. It is not known why these whales do this but there are many theories such as for communication, feeding purposes or to knock parasites off the flippers.

On Wednesday, our cruises were privileged to be visited by Lacuna an adult male who has been coming to the Bay of Fundy since 2003. He treated the Cetacean Search as if it were a bath toy, pushing on it with his nose. We were never in any danger, humpback whales are after all our gentle giants.

The fog still looms over us but our trips have been phenomenal!

Whales in the Fog!

The fog continues to loom over us, however we have ahd a few beautiful sunny days. As I mentioned in a previous post, the fog can hinder us a bit as it takes a bit longer to locate the whales but we are usually successful in finding them. On yesterday's cruise, the fog cleared just enough that we were able to see 4 different humpback whales including a mother and calf and two individuals that were hanging out together. The new mother was identified as Touchdown, and the other two were Flash and Notchy.

The calf was very entertaining as when Touchdown went for a deep dive, the calf would linger at the surface and inspect our boat and its occupants. At at point, the calf breached (jumped) next to the boat much to the excitement of everyone!

Calf rolling next to the boat.