Still whales around!

Good afternoon everyone, well, we have had quite a frustrating week dealing with some engine issues.  We do have 2 engines, as we are a power catamaran, so we have been able to do a few trips on ideal weather days on one engine (longer and slower trips but with ideal weather is has been quite relaxing moving at a slower pace...it is NOT a safety concern).  Now that the issues with the engine have been sorted out and the mechanic will be down to help with repairs on Monday we are hoping to back up and running at full speed by next Tuesday or Wednesday.  We do have scheduled departures this weekend, and they will be on one engine and we will be paying close attention to the weather on Sunday afternoon.

We have done a few trips in the past few days and I wanted to share some photos with you of the life in Head Harbour Passage.

A small sampling of the gulls in Head Harbour Passage on the flood tide 

Minke whale surfacing amongst the gulls

Minke whale 

Minke whale 

We have our annual bird cruise this Saturday morning so I will let you all know how it goes!  I will also let you know when the boat is up and running at full speed!

Cheers,
Danielle

Still fin whales and a young humpback!

Good afternoon everyone, the whale watching continues to be wonderful out of St. Andrews.  On Monday, September 15th we found a young humpback whale off South Wolf, the first humpback sighting in our area of the 2014 season!  We also saw this whale on Tuesday, September 16th and we were treated to some incredible surface activity including tail breaching and tail lobbing (our Scout Boat found the humpback and this young whale was breaching fully for over an hour before we got there and we were so happy the surface activity continued for over 20 minutes when we got there).  The photos are currently at Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies in hopes of matching this young whale to the catalogue.

Here are some photos of the humpback we saw

Humpback tail breaching and passenger photographing from the upper deck

Check out those pectoral flippers

We were not able to locate the humpback on Wednesday, September 17th but we found fin whales and got some incredible views.

Fin whale just about to surface

Fin whale calf 

Fin whale calf just under the water, you can see the markings right under the water 

Fin whale approaching the Quoddy, you can see the asymmetrical colouring of the lower jaw 

We are still seeing lots of porpoise and seals as well.

Grey seals 

Harbour seals 

Thanks so much for checking in today!  There is still time to join us on the Bay before our 2014 season comes to a close, call 1-877-688-2600 for reservations.

Cheers,
Danielle

Underwater footage of the fin whale calf

I told you all I would share this....check it out!  THANK YOU NICK

More time with the fin whale mom and calf

Good morning everyone, we continue to spend time on every departure with the mother and calf fin whale pair that has been hanging out and feeding off South Wolf (there has also been up to 6 other adults in the same area feeding depending on the tide).

Here are some photos of the recent finback sightings including lots of the calf we have fallen completely in love with!!

Fin whale calf

Fin whale calf 

Fin whale calf, you can see the start of the chevron on the left

This fin whale calf often raises the front of his rostrum out of the water

Check out the blowholes!

Beautiful fin whale calf 

Beautiful fin whale calf 

Fin whale mother and calf.  Note the chevron on the left hand side of the the calf, a very unique marking 

Barrel roll from calf 

Mother and calf and another adult (blow)

Partial breach from the calf 

partial breach from the calf, check out the tiny pectoral flipper 

Another barrel roll, they have such beautiful flukes 

Partial breach from the calf 

Also, hopefully very soon I will have some underwater footage of this "little" whale to share with all of you!  THANK YOU NICK!!

As well as our whale sightings we continue to see lots of porpoise as well as both harbour and grey seals and bald eagles around the Islands.

Thanks so much for checking in and I will share that underwater video as soon as I can!

Cheers,
Danielle

Mother and calf fin whale pair

Hello everyone, we have spent the past few days with a mother and calf fin whale pair that have completely stolen our hearts.  This is the same calf we saw on Sunday, September 7th off the Wolves in it's own.  This calf has some of the most beautiful markings that I have ever seen on a fin whale.  We have also had some other fin whales feeding the area although they are moving around quite a bit and effort has to be made to locate them (we don't mind searching at all, which is why we tell you our trips average about 3 hours but sometimes may be a bit longer due the patience that is needed for wildlife)

Here are some photos of the finbacks from the past few days

Fin whale

Fin whale mom and calf pair 

Left hand side of the calf fin whale 

Fin whale mom and calf pair 

Fin whale mom and calf paur 

Fin whale calf approaching the boat 

Passenger watching a fin whale from the lower deck of the Quoddy Link 

FInback whale 

Fin whale mom and calf pair 

Fin whale 

Fin whale calf approaching the boat 

I also got a short video clip of the mom and calf pair.

Post by Quoddy Link Marine.

And I never shared this video with you guys from August 22 of a Mola mola!

Post by Quoddy Link Marine.

Thanks so much for checking in today!  We are still running 2 trips a day with a special 20% discount off our morning departures in celebration of our 20th Anniversary!  Come experience the Bay of Fundy catamaran style.

Cheers,
Danielle

What an incredible offshore trip!

Good evening everyone, I promised a separate post on our Annual North Atlantic right whale trip so here it is....

Well, first, we did not see any right whales.  There had been a few reported in the area on Thursday but the weather we were dealt on Sunday morning didn't allow us to do much searching.  We did send our Scout Boat out ahead to search for whales and a BIG THANK YOU to Matty because he found three humpback whales about 32 miles from St. Andrews...and we couldn't have asked for anything better on a day with a some rather wavy conditions.  The trio was spending most of their time at the surface, relaxing and fluking up while diving but not moving far and were incredibly easy to watch.  And everything got even better when we realized who we were watching...we spend out morning with Whistler, Vee and FOGGY!  Foggy is a humpback whale who is very near and dear to many of the whale watchers in the Bay of Fundy and last September she survived a severe entanglement and her rescue was very well covered.  Check out the story HERE.  We also saw many fin whales spread out while we were watching the humpbacks and we stopped with 2 minkes and seals on our way back into St. Andrews.

I wanted to share a bunch of photos with you from our trip

Vee

Vee and our Scout Boat

Vee

Foggy, note that the injuries are older and not from her entanglement last September

Vee

Our trio of humpbacks

Whistler

Watching humpbacks from the foredeck of the Quoddy Link

Foggy and Vee

Foggy and Vee

Check out those pecs!

You can see all three here but you have to look for the pecs

Check out those turbercles!  There is a coarse, sensory hair growing out of each one

THANK YOU to everyone who joined us on this special trip!  We hope to see you all again,

Cheers,
Danielle