Morning fog, minkes and a finback - July 25, 2021

SIGHTINGS UPDATE

10am: This morning we headed out into patchy and ever-changing fog but we worked our way through the Islands and first stopped with a beautiful pair of bald eagles on Black Rock and some grey seals in the water surrounding the covered ledge. Then we got word from a fellow whale watcher that there was a minke whale a little further up Head Harbour Passage. We got some wonderful looks at 2 minke whales in Head Harbour as well as Head Harbour Light and so many porpoise including a few mother/calf pairs. Captain Mat decided to take us home Western Passage so our passengers could experience the Old Sow, the largest tidal whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere. The Old Sow flows it’s hardest at mid-flood and WOW, was it ever flowing hard this morning! After some playtime in the Old Sow we made our way home to St. Andrews between Deer Island and the coast of Maine.

1:30pm: This afternoon the fog had lifted and the wind had picked up slightly out of the west. We began with seals at Black Ledge and an eagle on the marker at the ledge. Next we started searching for whales off Bliss Island and the keen eyes of a passenger saw what they thought was a large fin out of the water so we stopped and waited about 5 minutes and our patience paid off, we picked up a large FINBACK whale! The whale was doing 9 minute dives but travelling in a consistent direction so we got some great looks at the largest species of whale in the Bay of Fundy. Then we made our way to Head Harbour Passage to check out the Light and we picked up a minke whale. The minke decided to take off and swim at such a high speed it was almost porpoising out of the water, amazing to see the speed of these whales! It was then time to make our way back to the harbour.

5pm: This evening they spent time on the backside of Campobello with a minke whale. They also saw seals, a bald eagle on Spruce and some excellent looks at harbour porpoise including a mom and calf travelling with other adults before it was time to head back to St. Andrews for the evening. Thank you to Rika for the updates tonight.