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
