Where have you been Hobo??!!?? Welcome Back!

What a great day! We headed out on our 2:00 pm departure and stopped at the mouth of Head Harbour Passage to watch a minke whale and then John, our captain/owner decided to head offshore in search of humpbacks. On our way out towards the Wolves Banks we found Parachute (top picture), on the move to what looked to be the ebb tide feeding ground in the Grand Manan Channel. We spent about 45 minutes with Parachute, one of our favorite humpbacks and today was no different as "he" did a full breach very close to the boat. Breaching is a common humpback behaviour but certainly isn't seen on every 3 hour whale watch. As we were watching Parachute we saw another blow towards the Channel about 2 miles away. We headed over and found Hobo (bottom picture), a humpback whale we haven't seen since September 6th! As we waited for "him" to surface again he breached off our bow, very lucky day.

Thanks for checking in and I will continue to keep you posted.

Humpbacks are still around!

Hello, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine. We are coming up on the end of September and we still have humpback whales in the bay. Yesterday, September 22nd, we remained inshore with a minke whale on our 10:00 am trip but with the ebb tide and a drop in winds we headed out to the Grand Manan Channel in the afternoon. When we arrived we found our "unknown" humpback (the series below is from yesterday). "She" became active and our passengers were treated to 2 tail breaches. As we were watching this humpback we saw 2 more blows down a little further in the channel. As we went over we found both Parachute (above) and Cork. A great afternoon!

Today came with a weather warning but with calm seas and no rain yet we headed directly out to the Wolves Banks on our 10:00 am trip. On our way out we found both Parachute and Cork, 2 humpbacks we have become very familiar with and the sightings were fantastic, with close approaches from both humpbacks. The forecasted winds arrived in the afternoon but had a very nice trip inshore watching a minke whale.

Thanks for checking in, they are calling for some serious winds tomorrow but I will keep you updated on our sightings.

Back out to Cork

Hello, it's Danielle again with Quoddy Link Marine. We had a great day. They were calling for a lot of wind today but it was off the land and the conditions for whale watching were very good. We spent about 45 minutes with a minke whale in Head Harbour Passage and then our captain/owner John decided to check out the conditions off shore. With less wind than expected we continued out into the Grand Manan Channel were we found Cork, a familiar 4-year old female humpback whale. Above (left) you can see her diving close to the boat. Below you can see a photograph I took today of her tail. Note the black cork-shaped mark on the right hand side of her fluke which is how she got her name. Thanks for checking in!!

Quality time with minke whales!

Hello there, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine. I just wanted to update you on our past few days. We have had quite a bit of wind and fog and have been confined to the inner islands. Even with the foul weather we have been having fantastic sightings of minke whales. Here you can see a photograph of Breadknife, a very familiar whale with local whale watchers. Below you can see 2 pictures from our 10:00 am trip on September 19th. We had an amazing sighting of a breaching minke whale off Head Harbour Light, at the northern tip of Campobello Island. It is very special to see a whale breach, but a minke whale breaching is incredibly rare. "He" breached about 10 times to the delight of our passengers. Thanks for checking in and I'll keep you posted on our sightings over the next few days!

A FANTASTIC Right Whale Trip!

Today we had the pleasure of taking passengers out on the open Bay of Fundy to search for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. Our scout boat headed out at 6:45 am and 1 hour and 30 minutes later we were with approximately 15 right whales! With only 300-350 left in the world, to have 15 so close was a privledge most wont soon forget.

Here you can see the callosities (roughened patches of skin) on the head of the right whale. The callosities appear in the same place as male facial hair. You can also clearly see the highly arched jaw line.

A mom and calf right whale!

A close encounter with a basking shark, the second largest fish in the world!

Below you can see a right whale diving close to the Quoddy Link, I was on our scout boat.

Our afternoon trip was a regular whale watch. We traveled into the Grand Manan Channel and got to spend some more time with Parachute, Cork and our "unknown". The sightings were great and the weather was beautiful. We also had a minke whale right in the entrance to Head Harbour Passage. Thanks for checking in!

Gorgeous Day!

Hello, this will be a short post but I just wanted to let you all know how our day went. With calm seas and sunny skies (and a bit of fog in the morning but it burned off in time) we spent time on both our 10:00 am and 2:00 pm trip with 3 humpback whales: Cork, Parachute and our new unknown from the past few days. A great day with fantastic sightings. Tomorrow we have a special trip planned to see the incredibly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale! We are all very excited and I will let you know how it goes. Thanks for checking in.

Cork, Parachute and An Unknown!

Hello, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine. What a great day! On our 10:00 am trip we had 3 humpbacks! Parachute, Cork and the same unknown we saw on the 13th of September were all in the Grand Manan channel on the ebb tide. Just great to see all 3 so close to one another. On our 2:00 pm trip the winds increased but not enough to stop us from finding Parachute about 2 miles SW of Southern Wolf. As usual Parachute was so easy to watch, surfacing every 5 minutes within 100 feet of the boat almost every time. What a great day!
Unknown, first seen on September 13th

Cork

Parachute

Keep checking for more updates!

New Humpback Whale!

Hello, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine. We had a surprise today, a NEW humpback whale! We had a gorgeous day today, with only one scheduled whale watch we headed straight out at 2:00 in search of humpbacks. In about the same area where we had Parachute yesterday, there he was again today. After spending some time with one of our favorite humpbacks we saw a blows about 1 mile away. When we saw the humpback I immediately didn't recognize the dorsal fin and when "he" raised his flukes I new for sure we had a new humpback (see the dorsal fin and fluke images below) . I have forwarded the pictures to the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA and I will keep you posted when I get a name. Thanks for checking in and stay in touch for more updates.

Welcome back Parachute!

Hello, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine. There won't be any pictures with this post but I thought I would still update you on what we have been seeing in the past few days.

Yesterday, September 11th we spent some time and has some great looks at a finback whale off of Blacks Harbour then we headed offshore in search of humpbacks. Again, close to the same spot, we found Cork. She was staying under for a while and making some big moves but we still got a few great looks at her. We also saw another humpback as we were leaving but we never got a look at it's tail.....maybe another day. As we arrived in St. Andrews we got a call about an entangled humpback whale. Unfortunately entanglements with fishing gear happens quite a bit with humpbacks (they estimate that around 80% of North Atlantic humpbacks have entanglement scars). Large whale rescue was called and we got word this morning that the whale was successfully disentangled. We are not sure on the identity of the whale but as I find more out I will keep you posted.

Today was my day off but speaking with the office they had a great afternoon whale watch, seeing Parachute, a favorite humpback with Quoddy Link and "he" hasn't been seen since September 6th. Parachute is popular for a reason, and today was no different as he breached and lobtailed for our guests.

I'm back to work tomorrow, thanks for checking in and I'll keep the updates coming!

What a Girl!

Hello, it's Danielle from Quoddy Link Marine. Here are some updates for the past 3 days!

September 8th came with fog and our 10:00 am departure was cancelled. Our 2:00 pm trip took us a few miles south of Bliss Island where we found a finback whale (We watched the same whale off Nancy's Head, Campobello Island about 90 minutes later in the trip). There was still a heavy haze/fog in the offshore but with a little visibility we headed off to the Grand Manan Channel where we found Cork, a 4 year-old female humpback (seen here).

September 9th brought more fog and another am trip cancelled. Our afternoon trip the fog persisted and confined us to the inner islands where we spent our time with a minke whale. We got some great close encounters.

September 10th, the fog has lifted!! Unable to find whales in the offshore (NOT for lack of trying, we covered a lot of ground looking for finbacks and humpbacks) we continued to Head Harbour Passage where we spent some time with 2 minke whales. On our 2:00 pm trip, with the change of tide and much calmer seas than our morning trip we headed off to the Grand Manan Channel to look for humpbacks. We found Cork again, in what seems to be her preferred spot on the ebb tide. A great trip!

Below you can see 3 grey seals, a fairly common sight in the our part of the Bay of Fundy (picture taken on September 8th). The seal on the left is a female, on the right is an adult male and the seal in the middle is a young of the year, most likely born in early February. This is not a family, even though it makes a nice picture, they are just 3 seals who are hauled out on the same rock. Grey seals are much larger than the more common harbour seal (about 200 lbs) and the males can reach a weight of almost 900 lbs.

A few great days with whales!

Hello there, it's Danielle, senior naturalist and photographer with Quoddy Link Marine. The last 2 days have been great. On September 6th, 10:00 am, we spent some time with a finback whale off Bliss Island and then went in search of humpback whales. With some help from the Grand Manan Ferry (letting us know that the patchy fog stopped, and it was clear over by Grand Manan) we headed over to northern tip of Grand Manan and found both Parachute and Hobo (not seen since August 24th) close to Long Eddy Light. On the 2:00 pm departure we had Repeat and Parachute, 2 familiar humpback whales, and a finback whale in the Grand Manan channel.

Today, with a lot of searching on our 10:00 am trip we finally found Repeat about 1.5 miles NW of the Wolves Bank. It was a great sighting with a full breach very close to the boat (breaching is a common behaviour with humpbacks but certainly isn't seen on every trip). On the 2:00 pm trip they found Cork, a 4 year old female humpback, in the Grand Manan channel. We also had a few minke whales on each trip today.

Thanks for checking out our sightings and we hope to see you in St. Andrews soon!

Welcome back Cork!!

Sorry for the lack of posts for the past few days. Here are some updates! The picture of the fin whale seen here was taken on September 3rd in Head Harbour Passage. These large whales are not usually seen this close to shore, a very special treat for many of the boaters, pleasure crafts and whale watching boats alike. Yesterday brought rain, fog and wind but we were able to get in a successful morning trip. With the weather we were confined inshore but we had the pleasure of watching "Breadknife" (named for the notches in his dorsal fin), a minke whale we have come to know and adore. "He" usually shows up at just the right time and almost always makes very close passes to our boat. I didn't take any pictures because of the weather.

Today brought sun, calm seas and humpback whales! On our morning trip we spent some time with Quarternote and a finback whale, about 1.5 miles east of Whale Cove, Grand Manan. And on our trip back to St. Andrews we came across Repeat about 4 miles west of Southern Wolf. Our 2:00 pm departure we headed back out in the same area, ended up on the SW corner of the Owen Basin with Parachute, Repeat and Cork as well as 2 finback whales. What a great day!

Quarternote, seen on our 10:00 am trip.

Repeat, seen on both our 10:00 am and 2:00 pm trips.

Cork, a 4 year old female seen on our 2:00 pm trip. We hadn't seen cork since July 20th!!

Parachute, a favorite with Quoddy Link

Gorgeous weather and whales!

The past 2 days have been great. On 3 of our 4 trips we have spent time with

both finbacks and humpback whales. Parachute, one of our favorite humpbacks is still hanging around Eastern Wolf and "he" continues to delight our passengers with many close encounters. Here you can see Parachutes' tubercles, the bumps on his rostrum. There is a single, coarse hair growing out of every single tubercle which are believed to have a sensory function similar to that of whiskers.

This is a young harbour seal, a common sight in the Bay of Fundy. Harbour seals are members of the family Phocidae, the true seals. They have short hind and fore flippers and cannot walk around on all fours. Instead, they pull themselves along using their front flippers and undulate their torsos.

Stayed tuned for some more sightings and updates!

Nice to spend some time with finbacks

Today was a great day with finback whales. On both our 10:00 am and 2:00 pm departure we spent time with finback whales, the second largest animal in the world. On our morning departure we also had a pair of minke whales traveling together, a rare sight. Below you can see the Island Link, our power cruiser out on a chartered whale watch, with a finback whale.

While on a chartered trip over to Campobello Island we were treated to a rare sight of a breaching minke whale. You can clearly see the white bands on the pectoral flippers.

I will keep you posted on our sightings tomorrow, thanks for checking in.

A day with Repeat

Despite the forecast of strong winds and fog we had a good with great sightings of both a finback and a humpback whale. We spent our 2 trips today with Repeat, a humpback whale. Also on our 10:00 am trip we saw a minke whale in Head Harbour Passage and on our 2:00 pm departure we had a finback whale off Bliss.

Here you can see Repeat's dorsal fin. Notice the white "rake" marks. Speaking with humpback researchers at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) they believe these marks are from an orca attack during the calf year. We have been seeing Repeat for the past week now and PCCS told us that Repeat hasn't been seen since 2004 off Massachusetts. These pictures were taken yesterday, when the sun was shining. With the mist and weather today I didn't take out my camera and just enjoyed with my eyes. Keep watching for more updates.

An experience of a life time!

This evening's trip was an experience of a life time. We arrived just NE of Eastern Wolf and got some nice looks and spent some time with Quarternote and Parachute. After about 40 minutes both whales were traveling together and they came towards the boat, making close passes, circling us and spyhopping (taking their heads out of the water). I spend my days from June-October watching whales and being curious about them and tonight, to have that curiosity obviously returned was absolutely incredible. I want to mention that close encounters like this is rare. Below you can see some photographs from our 5:30 trip.

Above you can see Parachute closer to the boat. Note the long, white pectoral flippers and you can also see barnacles around the chin of Parachute.

Here you can see a spyhop. Note the barnacles and the ventral grooves (pleats than run down the belly side in rorqual whales to allow expansion while feeding).

Above Quarternote is closer to the boat (notice the square dorsal fin).

A very close encounter with Parachute. Quarternote is on the other side of "him".

I always say my job is a privledge, to be able to spend the amount of time I do with whales, and tonight was an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.

Quarternote, Parachute and Repeat...a great day.

Hello there, it's Danielle, senior naturalist and photographer with Quoddy Link Marine. We had 3 great trips today, barely a breath of wind and blue skies. Our morning and afternoon we were west of Southern Wolf with Repeat, a humpback whale we have been seeing for the past week. On both trips we were able to stop and spend some time with a finback whale just south of Blacks Harbour. On our evening trip we traveled out to Eastern Wolf in search of humpbacks. We saw a finback on our way, a nice surprise, and we continued to the east and found both Parachute and Quarternote (below). It was 3 great trips and with a good forecast for Sunday, tomorrow should be another great day for whale watching out of St. Andrews.

Another day with great weather and humpback whales

Hello, it's Danielle, senior naturalist and photographer with Quoddy Link Marine. We had another great day with humpback whales. We spent all 3 trips with Parachute (left) and Quarternote (below, can you guess how Quarternote got his named by looking at his fluke?). Parachute was active again today on our 5:30 trip, I don't have any pictures from that trip, I was in the office. They are calling for light winds for the next 2 days so I will keep you posted on our sightings. Thanks for checking in.