Summer by the Sea

It has been just over a week since my last posting and time continues to fly by. I have spent the last seven days on the wonderful isle of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

The first highlight of the week was not whales, but an entirely different creature of the sea. We were miles off the coast, looking for whales, when we stumbled upon a bait ball. What happened next felt like a scene out of a BBC documentary. Within an instant there were several hundred-pound blue fin tuna leaping out of the water after their quarry. These overfished giants moved with speed and grace that seemed far too great for a fish of such size. Not only was the school made up of several dozen blue fins, but they also stayed in the area for almost five minutes before moving along in a southerly direction. For a fish that can disappear in a blink of an eye, these tuna definitely graced the morning with a once in a lifetime appearance.

            The whales themselves were a bit slow in coming. We managed to find them every day, but sometimes there would be only a few individuals found during the entire eight hours we were out looking for them.

            Several days ago we happened upon our first minke whale of the season. These guys are often nicknamed “stinky minkes” because they can pop up once and then disappear for twenty minutes, never to been seen again. This one stayed by the boat, following us for several miles before we had to leave to get back to the harbor. Since I took photos on the big camera (named “Leroy”), I’ll have to grab them to put up later! Yet still the pilot whales were still scarce.

            However, yesterday was different. We left the harbor to find many pods of pilot whales swimming around Pleasant Bay. After a day of whales, we were treated to a social gathering of many groups during the late afternoon. There were spy hops, breaches, and an array of other playful behaviors. The whales were also very vocal during the whole encounter.

            We went home that evening to find that we could watch the whales from our front porch! They stayed in the bay in front of us until after the sun set.

            I find myself wanting to say that each new day is the best on yet. However, there always seem to be new adventures to be had and more phenomenal memories to be made. Today this continued as we went on a zodiac ride after our work was done on the larger boat. In the perfect light of the late afternoon sun we saw many groups of travelling and feeding pilot whales, as well as many of the epic sweeping cliffs that this side of Cape Breton has to offer.

            These are a few of my highlights from this week! I will try to post again soon with some more pictures from this adventure.

Fair Winds