5 humpbacks..including a playful baby...what a GREAT TRIP!

Hey everyone, what a great trip we had this afternoon (our morning was a charter, not specifically a whale watch but we did see a number of fin whales off the entrance to Head Harbour Passage). With the tide almost slack, we knew that the fin whales inshore would probably be staying under for longer periods of time John decided to run us immediately offshore in search of humpbacks....we planned to stop with fins on the way back home. Talking with Fundy Tide Runners, a fellow whale watcher our of St. Andrews we knew there were 2 humpbacks not far off Southern Wolf and when we arrived we found Quarternote and Crystal traveling together. Even though we saw no tails from either of them they both have very unique dorsals and that was enough for a positive ID.


John noticed another blow about 1.5 miles from us so we made our way out but on our way we spotted another large tail come up....so we stopped and waited and when the humpback surfaced again we noticed it was not 1 but 2 humpbacks....Colorado and her 2009 calf! This is the first season in my 8 with Quoddy that I have seen humpback mom's with their babies and it is incredible! The calves are so playful at the surface...and their tails are so tiny compared to mom's. Below are some pictures of Colorado and her 2009 calf.

Colorado and her 2009 calf



The 2009 calf of Colorado


Colorado


While we were watching Colorado and her baby we saw another blow and were able to get some looks at a 5th humpback of the afternoon. This adult never raised it's tail but I got some dorsal fin shots and I don't recognize this whale from what I saw today....hopefully we can get a fluke shot in the next couple of days!


Thanks for checking in today!

And if I havn't mentioned it lately...I LOVE MY JOB!

Cheers,
Danielle