The 2007 season is continuing to amaze us!

Hello everyone, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine. I'm very sorry for the lack of posts during the past week, I have had a few days off to do some travelling of my own throughout this beautiful province. Things here with Quoddy have been spectacular. The whales continue to amaze us. With finback whales moving from the Blacks Harbour shoreline towards Campobello and remaining inshore and when the weather and the tides co-operate we do get offshore in search of humpback whales. We are still seeing both Cork and Hobo, 2 humpbacks we are very familiar with but they are still not showing much consistency with their feeding and travelling patterns.



Here is a photo I took on our 5:30 cruise last night of a finback whale just outside the Fundy Isles. This whale is approximately 50-55 feet long, the length of the Quoddy Link, our whale watching catamaran!

The bird life has been absolutely GREAT this year. With the large amount of herring in the water we have seen more northern gannets than I can remember seeing in my past 5 years with Quoddy. The majority of the ones we see are in various stages of juvenile plumage.
Here you can see a northern gannet confronting a young gull. All of the birds and most of the marine mammals in the area are feeding on the same food source, herring and krill.
Here is a northern gannet getting looking for a fish and getting ready to plunge dive. Gannets are one of the only birds with binocular vision, they can look forward with both eyes. They also have air sacs in their head and neck area that inflate before they hit the water to protect them from the impact.













Below is a terminal dive from Cork, a 5 year-old female humpback whale. Many whales do not raise their tails on their terminal dive but humpbacks do (one of the many reasons they are a favorite among whale watchers). When they raise their tails they are telling is who they are, the black and white pigmentation is different on every, individual humpback whale. If you have a look at the right hand side of Corks' fluke you will see a black mark which looks like a mushroom cap or a plastic wine cork, that is how she got her name....."Cork".



Thanks so much for checking in, I will continue to keep you posted on all things Quoddy.

Wind, rain and some better weather...but great whales!

Hello there, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine. Well, the past few days have brought a lot of wind and a lot of rain but some great whale sightings. Yesterday we had quite a bit of rain but on our 2 departures we had fantastic fin whale sightings.

Today started off with a strong northwest wind and on our morning and afternoon trips we stayed closer to home with both finback and minke whales. The photo above you can see the characteristic blow of a finback whale, tall and straight.

At 5:30 the winds had almost completely dropped out and the tide was on the flood so John, our captain and owner, decided to make the run offshore in search of humpback whales. When we arrived we found Cork, a 5-year old female humpback as well as 5-6 finback whales.

We spent some time with Cork while she was lunge feeding, coming to the surface with her mouth closing, water pouring out between her baleen plates and her ventral grooves were fully extended. It was awesome! The photo below was one of her surfaces very close to the boat, you can see the water pouring out of the side of her mouth.

Thanks so much for checking in with us today. It looks like the weather should be great tomorrow. Come down to St. Andrews and experience the Bay of Fundy....Catamaran Style.

Finbacks and a FANTASTIC SURPRISE!

Hello, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link. What a great day. The whales we consistent and on all 3 trips we spent time with finback (left) and minke whales. The sightings were fantastic. Even on our evening departure, it rained but everyone stayed down below, nice and dry, and were treated to some very close encounters with a finback whale.


The surprise of the day came on our 2:00 trip where our guests had the privilege to see an ocean sunfish, Mola mola. It's my first sighting in 6 years and I was ecstatic! These bizarre looking fish, from the same family as pufferfish, average about 6 feet long and weigh 2200 lbs! The most obviously strange part is their shape, they look like a fish head without a tail. Through the course of evolution their caudal fin (tail) has disappeared and been replaced by a pseudo-fin called a clavus. Their diet consists mainly of jellyfish and to maintain their bulk they have to consume a very large amount. Ocean sunfish are covered in a slime instead of scales and they swim by a characteristic sculling motion of their dorsal and anal fins. They are the heaviest "bony" fish in the world, but its body is actually comprised of mostly cartilaginous tissues which is lighter than bone and can allow it to grow to such a large size which is uneconomical for other bony fishes. For more information on Mola mola visit "Ocean sunfish- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_sunfish



Thank You so much for checking in today on my very special post. Please feel free to contact me if you have any comments or questions (danielle.m.dion@hotmail.com)

Clear, calm and warm...a fantastic day!

Hello everyone, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine back from an absolutely gorgeous day on the water. On our morning and evening departures the tide was on the ebb and we had finback whales just outside the islands, only about 8-10 nm from St. Andrews. The photo directly below is of a finback whale and was taken on our 10:00 am trip. On each trip we also got to spend some time with minke whales (right), some more co-operative than others. On our 2:00 pm trip the tide was on the flood and our humpbacks are remaining consistent on the incoming tide. We travelled directly offshore towards the Wolves where we found a familiar finback whale as well as Cork, a 5-year old female humpback whale. It was beautiful out there, with lots of harbour porpoise on our way out and back as well as tons of seabirds including northern gannets and shearwaters.

Thanks for checking our blog today. I'm on the water again tomorrow so I will make sure to keep you posted on all things Quoddy.

CRAZY Bay of Fundy Fog!

Hello everyone, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine with a few days of updates for you. The past 2 days we have been met with strong southwest winds and the infamous Bay of Fundy fog. With these conditions we have been forced to remain inshore where the seas are relatively calm and we have some areas with better visibility. On our trips we have been seeing both minke (left) and finback (below) whales. The sightings have been excellent on most trips, even with the weather.

One of the great sites over the past 2 days have been the large numbers of northern gannets. This impressive seabird can have a wingspan of over 2 metres. All of the gannets we have been seeing are immature (below), the won't reach their adult colours until 4-5 years of age. One of the most amazing things about watching gannets is the main way they feed. They are plunge divers, sometimes diving from over 100 feet in the air down into the water to catch fish. Their streamlined body has air cells between the skin of its neck and shoulders and the muscle beneath. When a gannet prepares to dive these air cells will inflate and cushion the body as it strikes the water. Gannets are also one of only a few birds to have binocular vision, therefor both eyes can see forward at once. Thanks for checking in, the weather forecast is better for tomorrow, we are all keeping our fingers crossed.

Northern Gannet information provided by: "Hinterland Who's Who - Northern Gannet http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=58

Humpbacks and minke whales...a great day!

Hello everyone, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine. What a great day we had. Our morning trip was calm and warm and took us off to the Wolves Bank in search of humpbacks. We were on the flood tide in the morning and our humpback whales have been very consistent on the incoming tide. On our way out we spent some time with a minke whale and passed a large finback whale but we knew if we were going to have time to spend with the humpbacks we had to continue offshore. When we arrived we found both Cork (below) and Hobo (above left). We spent some time with both humpbacks before making our way back to St. Andrews.

The wind picked up in the afternoon and we were restricted to the inner Islands on both our afternoon and evening departures. We had some great minke whale sightings on both trips as well as spending time with seals and harbour porpoise. Our guests on our evening departure got to see a herring weir being seined. A herring weir is a fish trap for wild herring, and "to seine" a weir what it is called when the fisherman harvest their catch.

Thanks so much for checking in, and I'll keep you all posted on our sightings tomorrow.

Finback and humpback whales and NO FOG!

Hello everyone, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine back from a beautiful day on the water. NO FOG!!! We set off on our 10:00 am trip with clear skies and calm seas in search of humpback whales. Humpbacks have been relatively consistent on the flood tide and today was no different (yesterday was my day off but we had some great morning sightings with Cork, if I get any photos I will post them later). Arriving on the Wolves Bank we found both Cork (below) and Hobo as well as a large finback whale (photo on right). We also saw a few minke whales offshore. It was a fantastic trip.


On our afternoon and evening trip we remained a little closer to home (the tide was on the ebb and the humpbacks have been staying down on average over 15 minutes and making huge moves on the out-going tide) and spent some time with both finback and minke whales. Below is a photo of a minke whale taken on our evening departure. This finback whale below was seen on both our 2:00 and 5:30 departures.

Thanks so much for checking in today. We are all hoping the fog stays away, I'll be sure to keep you posted on all of our sightings.

We are all a little tired of the Fundy Fog!

Hello everyone, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link back after a great day on the water, even with the crazy Fundy Fog! Today we saw the fog move in and out so many times, on some parts of our trips we had no more 200 feet of visibility and then 5 minutes later we could see 2 miles in every direction. It really proves how quickly the weather can change on the Bay of Fundy.



We were able to see Finback whales on all 3 departures today, and great sightings on each and every one. Our 10:00 am trip was a foggy one but, with exceptionally calm seas, we were able to stop, shut our engines down and listen for the whales and we got many close encounters.

On both our 2:00 and 5:30 departures we were able to find some nice holes in the fog to view finback whales. The photo below is from our afternoon trip.



I also wanted to share this photo of a whale "footprint". This smooth, circular patch of water is caused by a whales' fluke (or tail) moving up and down just under the surface of the water. This "footprint" shows us where the whale was last, just as your footprints would in the sand or snow. These footprints can be very useful when looking for whales in the fog.



Thank You for checking in today. Tomorrow is another day...we can only hope for less fog and more great whale sightings. I'll keep you all posted.

Fog, fog go away....please

Hello everyone, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link with a few days of sightings. The fog continues to keep the offshore areas out of reach and on some of our morning and evening trips the fog is just too thick in the Islands to try and go and see whales. We have gotten 4 of our last 6 departures in and all trips we have been able to show our passengers finback whales just off the northern tip of Campobello Island. And on this evenings departure we had a very nice sighting of a minke whale. Below is a photo of a finback whale I took on this afternoons trips.

The bird sightings continue to be great, the offshore fog usually brings in some of the offshore avian life to the excitement of our bird fanatics. Our regular inshore seabird sightings are great as well. Today we saw greater shearwaters, northern gannets, Bonaparte's gulls, an Atlantic puffin (everyones favorite), bald eagles and black guillemots.

The weather isn't looking very promising for tomorrow but you never know what Mother Nature has in store. I'll keep you all posted and thanks for checking in.

Special Right Whale Trips

Quoddy Link Marine would like to announce 2 dates for special right whale trips, September 16th and September 30th. Both of these trips will depart at 7:00am and we will travel about 35 nm from St. Andrews out into the open Bay of Fundy in search of the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. With only 300-350 individuals left it is an absolute privilege to see and spend time with these amazing whales. We expect to be back between 1:00 and 2:00 pm. Below are some photos from one of last years right whale trips.

Basking sharks, can reach lengths of over 30 feet and are the 2nd largest fish in the world, are one of the other many type of marine life we man encounter. We may also see finback, humpback and minke whales, Atlantic white-sided dolphins, harbour porpoise and numerous offshore seabirds.

Please contact the office (506-529-2600 / 1-877-688-2600 or quoddylink@townsearch.com) for more information, prices and reservations.

Finbacks and some HOT weather

Hello everyone, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine back from a nice cool day on the Bay. The weather here in St. Andrews has been unusually hot but it remains cool on the water (so don't forget your layers!).

The past 2 days have been great with finback and minke whale sightings. We still have 4-5 finback whales hanging off the entrance to Head Harbour Passage. The move a little to the East sometimes but overall have been very co-operative. Below is a terminal dive of a finback, note the tall, columnar blow and high arch of the back, both characteristic of fin whales.


Not sure about the weather tomorrow, maybe some rain but that doesn't stop us. I will keep you posted on all of our sightings.

Cork and Finbacks...a great day!

Hello everyone, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine back after a great day on the water. The morning started off a very foggy but it cleared in time for some great sightings of finback whales off Campobello Island. Below is a rare photo of a finback whales fluke (the whale in the middle, there are 3 finbacks in the photo). Finback whales do not typically raise their tails when they dive like humpbacks do, actually most whales don't including the largest in the world, finbacks and blue whales. The whale in the middle here was rolling in its side, we can only guess what sort of communication was going on.

Our afternoon departure took us to a similar area, inshore, where we spent some time with finback whales.

Our evening trip was a special one. With a call from the Grand Manan ferry that they were seeing humpbacks in their track we headed offshore to see what we could find. It was a little choppy but we had eager passengers and when we arrived we found Cork, a 5 year-old female humpback that we know quite well at Quoddy. While we were waiting for Cork to resurface we saw a finback whale breach about a 1/2 mile away, not once but 4 times! Finback whales are not known to breach, just like they are not known to raise their tails. Below is a photo I captured, I know it's a little blurry but I am still happy, it's the first time I have seen a fin whale breach in my 6 years with Quoddy.

Thanks for checking in with us today, I hope tomorrow is just as good.

2007 season continues to be fantastic!

Hello everyone, it's Danielle back from a day of rest (and grocery shopping). The whales in our part of the Bay of Fundy continue to be fantastic. Both yesterday and today we saw finback whales on all 3 trips! They are still found consistently off the entrance to Head Harbour Passage and yesterday they were right up inside the passage off Casco Bay Island.







Below is a photo of 2 finback whales directly off East Quoddy Head Light on the northern tip of Campobello Island, NB. This is the entrance to Head Harbour Passage, a waterway that is at the heart of the fight to stop LNG tankards from entering Passamaquoddy Bay. We do what we can by documenting all of our whale sightings with photographs as well as recording lat/long data.






Here you can see 2 finback whales travelling together (there we 5 travelling in a herd). In the background is Deer Island, NB.

















This is a bald eagles nest that we have the opportunity to visit on some of our departures. Here you can see 2 immature eagles in the nest, one silhouetted against the sky, the other is to the right, hunched over.

Harbour porpoise are a common sighting on all of our departures. You have to keep your eyes on the water to see them and don't get to frustrated if you can't manage to capture them on camera cause they are quite quick and unpredictable.

Yesterday we also had the chance to spend some time with both Hobo (pictured below) and

Cork, 2 humpback whales we have become quite fond of here at Quoddy Link Marine. John was out on our Scout Boat today and located Cork in the Grand Manan Channel but the weather turned and the fog rolled on in and he was unable to keep track of her.

For those of you who follow the blog on a regular basis I wanted to share that I got the grey seal identified that we saw on July 22nd with a brand mark on his back. He was born on Sable Island (160 km southeast of Canso, Nova Scotia) on December 30, 1997 and weaned on January 19, 1998 at 63.5 kg and 120cm. Also, he has been sighted in the breeding colony on Sable Island on January 26, 2005. Thanks to Mike Hammill (IML) and Don Bowen and Jim McMillan (BIO) for their help in identifying this seal.



Thanks for checking in, they weather man is calling for fog tomorrow.....I'll keep you posted.