Thursday, June 30, 2011

Oh, how I have missed the smell of minke whale breath

Hello everyone, I am so happy that I can share our sightings from yesterday with you, what a great day we had despite the fog!

Our morning trip was delayed by 30 minutes but the patience payed off and we were able to get out on the water and head towards the Bliss/Blacks shoreline where we found the mother and calf fin whales we saw the day before.  They were a pleasure to watch and we were able to get some really close looks at both of them and our passengers were able to appreciate the size difference between the adult female and her young baby born just this past winter.  Below is a picture I took yesterday of the mom and calf, the calf is closer to the camera, I know it's hard to see the size difference, but trust me, mom is HUGE.


On our morning trip we also stopped at Whitehorse Island where we saw nesting black-legged kittiwakes (below), greater black backed and herring gulls, double-crested cormorants and black guillemots.


We also saw a large black backed gull that has just returned to the island with some lunch....look like some fish.  These gulls are very large, they are predators and can even take down a small seabird like a puffin out of mid-flight!


We also had the chance to stop at a smaller island because we saw a few bald eagles but the closer we got the more eagles we saw on the island, there must have been at least 10 bald eagles on this small island, 2 adults and the rest were juveniles.  Amazing to see and our guests were in awe.



We were back in St. Andrews just in time to give the boat a quick clean and head out for our 2pm departure.  We were unable to re locate the fin whales but with a friendly call from a whale watching boat our of Eastport, ME we found 4 minke whales off Head Harbour Light!  A great sighting as it's not as common to see so many minke whales in such a close area, at one point we had one off our bow, 2 on our port side and the 4th off our starboard.  Below is a shot of one the minke whales that came quite close...close enough to smell their breath, and they do not have the nickname "stinky minke" for nothing!!


Thanks so much for checking in...stay tuned for more sightings and if you are local and you have not come down to check out the renovations of the Quoddy Link...COME ON DOWN....if we are at the dock and you want to come aboard just ask :)  She now has a much larger upper deck as well as a brand new fore deck....which I am falling in love with more and more every time I am on the boat.

Cheers,
Danielle

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A Day of Ups and Downs

Hello everyone. it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine back for another season and I will be bringing you all of our sighting from the our trips on the Bay of Fundy like always.

Today was such an interesting day, a day of ups and downs with wildlife watching and a reminder of how dynamic of an environment the Bay of Fundy is.

Our morning trip took us off Bliss and Blacks Harbour where we spent time with (thanks to a friendly call from Fundy Tide Runners) 3 finback whales, including a mom and calf pair!  This was our first good look at finbacks this season and our first mom and calf pair of the 2011 whale watching season.  Below is a picture of the finback off Blacks Harbour (unfortunately I was unable to get any pictures of the mom and calf pair today)


This afternoon we were unable to find any whales to show our passengers, the tide had turned and was now on the ebb and we knew we would have to do some searching and with the other whale watching companies from in town staying in the in shore areas John decided to take us offshore to search...and search we did, we made our way all the way east of Swallowtail Light off Grand Manan but were unsuccessful.  We did see quite a variety of seabirds (petrels, razorbills, murres, shearwaters), a bald eagle, porpoise and seals but because we didn't see any whales this time of the season we do offer our passengers a voucher for a free trip to come with us again.

We will have to see what tomorrow brings,

Cheers,
Danielle

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Fundraiser for the Charlotte County Cancer Society

Hello everyone, I want to tell you all about a special fundraiser we are having this week....on Thursday, June 30th at 6pm we are having a Sunset Wine and Cheese/Nature Cruise to support the Charlotte County Cancer Society.  Tickets are only $40 (a $30 tax receipt is available) and reservations are required.  Please call 1-877-688-2600 to reserve your spot, we want to fill the boat!


We hope to see lots of familiar faces there,

Cheers,
Danielle