Another day with incredible humpbacks and fall weather

Hello everyone...it feels great when I get to come home and bring you news of another amazing day out on the Bay of Fundy. This afternoon (our morning departure was a charter to Campobello but we did see 3 fin whales off East Quoddy Head Light) we knew that we were going to have some weather to deal with but we had a small boat load of hearty and eager passengers so we passed by the fin whales we saw inshore and made our way offshore in search of humpbacks. Talking to Fundy Tide Runners (zodiac whale watching out of St. Andrews) we knew that there were humpbacks close to South Wolf so we made the trip offshore with everyone keeping their eyes open for blows.

When we arrived we found 3 humpbacks traveling together, 2 we quickly ID'ed as Colorado and her calf. Below (top) is Colorado, her calf beside her and 1 of the 2 new humpbacks we saw today that has been ID'ed as Notchy. The bottom photo is Colorado's 2009 calf.


We also saw EKG, a juvenile humpback we have been watching since 2006.


We moved closer to South Wolf and Colorado's calf was..well...being a calf, staying at the surface, rolling over and coming up tail first....and then Notchy tail breached 2 times right between Colorado and her calf.


Then an adult whale (might have been Colorado or maybe Notchy) and Colorado's 2009 calf started to flipper slap. The pectoral flippers of humpbacks are incredibly long, up to 1/3 their body length. You can see the size difference between the adults and the Colorado's calf's pectoral flippers, it was so sweet to see both of them slapping their pecs at the same time!!


In the next 3 photos you can see both the 2009 calf of Colorado and the adult...look at the size difference!!!


These are the 2 new humpbacks that we saw today. I have included both dorsal fin and fluke shots 'cause with humpbacks both the dorsal and fluke differs from whale to whale.

This is Notchy, a male who was first sighted in 1981.


This is the other new humpback we saw today, Cord, a female and the 2002 calf of Bungee. Thanks to Jooke at PCCS and Shelley from Brier Island Whale and Seabird Cruises as well as a blog reader for the ID.


Thanks so much for checking in with us today....the 2009 season continues to be amazing!!!

I LOVE MY JOB!

Cheers,
Danielle