SIGHTINGS UPDATE
Thursday August 6, 2020
10am: This morning we mixed things up a bit and headed out through Letite passage between Deer Island and Greens Point. We saw harbour porpoises and stopped with seals on Black Ledge. We poked around the mainland shoreline then swung by Whitehorse Island to see the birds. Then Captain Mat got a call that there were 2 minkes swimming together so we went over to check them out. It’s not common to see minkes swimming together as they are known to be less social than other baleen whales. We got some great looks before it was time to head back to St. Andrews.
1:30pm: This afternoon we headed out and quickly picked up Slice, a local favourite minke whale. We also had great looks at 4 other minke whales, a bald eagle juvenile, many porpoise, and seals! We looked at Whitehorse Island and watched some gulls chase a juvenile bald eagle off the island! Amazing!
5pm: This evening we headed out and quickly found a very easy to watch minke whale. The whale was doing some deeper dives but not moving too far so we idled nearby watching. The whale surprised us (but we were in idle the whole time) by surfacing next to the boat then swimming underneath and up the other side! We could clearly make out the minke’s mittens (white bands on the pectoral flippers unique to minke whales) and the tail! What a treat! We headed out as more boats came over to check out the minke. We found a large feeding group of porpoise and gulls. We were even able to see the herring ball, known as a bait ball, under the surface! It was amazing to watch all these animals actively feeding on fish so close to the surface. We had several bald eagles and looked at lots of seals on the way back to St Andrews. What a day!
a close look at a herring bait ball
gulls feeding on a herring bait ball (you can see the herring, the dark mass in the water at the bottom of the image)
watching Slice, a favourite minke of so many off Head Harbour Light at the northern end of Campobello
Slice, a minke whale
Thanks to Rika for the updates and images and to all of our passengers who joined us. We are getting quite busy and if you are trying to book online and see we do not have availability don’t hesitate to give the office a call as we hold back some seats for walk-ins and phone calls.
Cheers,
Danielle
Quoddy Link Marine
Whale Watching
St. Andrews
New Brunswick
Quoddy Link Marine
Whale Watching
St. Andrews
New Brunswick
