World Canada Ontario Guelph

Kings Travels

Whale watching 15 Oct 2008

We have always wanted to go whale watching, and while we were in Nova Scotia we decided to take the opportunity. The Bay of Fundy is one of the rich feeding grounds for the whales, dolphins and porpoises due to the great tides.

We got suited out in our sexy orange floater suits, with heaps of layers underneath, walked like sumo wrestlers to the 9m inflatable Zodiac. We had been warned that it gets quite cold out there and powering out into the Bay we were glad of the insulation!

Sitting and waiting in the ocean for the first sighting made us quite excited wondering where and when a whale would appear. Had a false alarm with a group of porpoises which eased the tension a wee bit. They were quite shy compared with the dolphins we saw later.

"Two o'clock" someone yelled. So off we went in the direction of the first whale coming up for air about 500m away. What an awesome sight! It was a fully grown humpback and gave a great display. They come up to breathe about

4-5 times before they go down with a flick of their tail, and can stay down for up to 30 minutes, though around

10-15 minutes is normal.

We motored between this whale and another smaller humpback about 500m apart. Entertained in between times with the dolphins and puffins and other sea birds which played around the boat.

Viewing these great sea mammals in their habitat is an awesome experience, with their slow and powerful movements, then a sideways breach, then a wave of the tail. Wow!

During our 3 1/2 hour trip we saw Humpbacks, Fin and one rare Right whale. A fairly quiet day!

This trip is worth it just for the zodiac ride made famous by Jacques Cousteau and Greenpeace.

What a great day.