World-class Sightings

Whale sightings have been wonderfully consistent with the Minke and Fin being seen every day in and around East Quoddy Light, yesterday on the 5pm departure we got to spend some time with a very small Minke...probably only about 10-12 feet in length! The gestation period for minke whales is 10 months and babies measure 2.4 to 2.8 metres (7'10" to 9'2") at birth. The newborns nurse for five months.

Common minke whales (northern hemisphere variety) are distinguished from other whales by a white band on each flipper. The body is usually black or dark-grey above and white underneath. Most of the length of the back, including dorsal fin and blowholes, appears at once when the whale surfaces to breathe. The whale then breathes 3-5 times at short intervals before 'deep-diving' for 2-20 minutes. Deep dives (terminal dives)are preceded by a pronounced arching of the back. The maximum swimming speed of minkes has been estimated at 20-30 km/h. Minke whales have between 240 and 360 baleen plates on each side of their mouths. Minke whales typically live for 30-50 years; in some cases they may live for up to 60 years.

Bird sightings have definitely been amazing for the past week, Eagles, Razorbill Auks, Black legged kittiwakes, puffins and Bonaparte's Gulls just to name a few! Now the Bonaparte's Gull is one of my favorite to see out there in the Bay of Fundy and yesterday they were everywhere!

Adults are 31-34 cm long with a 79-84 cm wingspan. They have a black hood and a short thin dark bill. The body is mainly white with pale grey back and upper wings. The underwing is pale and the wing tips are dark. They have orange legs. In winter, the head is white.

The amount of birds in one area is unbelievable...multiple species of gulls all feeding on the immense amount of fish in the water column! In the photo above you can see Herring Gulls flying and feeding in Quoddy River.

I'll leave you with a picturesque view of Greenspoint light with the harbour seals on splitting knife. Cheers!

Fins, Minkes and Porpoise!

Such a great few days have gone past! So much to see in the Bay of Fundy, I feel so amazingly lucky to have grown up here and now to share my expertise for what I love with the folks that join us on the Island Quest!

Sightings included Fin whales, Minke whales, Harbour Porpoise, Harbour and Gray Seals, Eagles, Razorbill Auks, Puffins and many different sea birds! Amazingggggg!...

The Harbour Porpoise grow to be 1.4 m to 1.9 m (4.6-6.2 ft). The females are correspondingly heavier, with a maximum weight of around 76kg's (167 pounds) compared with the males' 61 kg's (134 pounds). The body of the porpoise is quite robust and the animal is at its maximum girth just in front of its triangular dorsal fin. The beak is poorly demarcated. The flippers, dorsal fin, tail fin and back are a dark grey. The sides are a slightly speckled lighter grey. The underside is much whiter, though there are usually grey stripes running along the throat from the underside of their body.

The species is widespread in cooler coastal waters in the Northern Hemisphere, largely in areas with an average temperature of about 15°C. In the Atlantic, Harbour Porpoises may be present in a concave band of water running from the coast of western Africa round to the eastern seaboard of the USA. Distribution shown in Blue.

Gray seal in the midst of a group of Harbour seals on splitting knife!
The entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay. Gorgeous.

Greetings from St. Andrews! The past few days have been packed full of Minke and Finback Whales and it seems as though the "Big Whales" are here to stay! Sightings on every departure for the past few days have included those elusive giants (Finbacks).

Finbacks, or fin whales, are the second largest whale in the world growing to lengths of 40' - 80' (the largest ever recorded being 88' in length!! WOW!) and can reach weights up to 70,000kg's.

The fin whale has a series of 56–100 pleats or grooves along the bottom of the body that run from the tip of the chin to the navel that allow the throat area to expand greatly during feeding. It has a curved, prominent (approx. 60cm, 24in) dorsal fin about three-quarters of the way along the back. Its flippers are small and tapered, and its tail is wide, pointed at the tip, and notched in the centre.

Regularly sighted on our whale watch during the peak whale season (July- October), the fin whales provide our guests with the chance to view the second largest mammal on our planet. With a blow (exhalation at the surface) up to 20' high the first sign of a fin is that distinctive "wooooshhh" of air and water.

Found commonly in temperate and cool waters, such as the Bay of Fundy, they are also found in all the worlds oceans.

Tune in next time for your Bay of Fundy updates with your local marine biologist at Island Quest Marine! Leaving you with a video of your vessel custom built by Captain Chris, the beautiful Island Quest, cruising into the harbour. Take care and see you soon!

Spy Hopper

Today was AMAZING, no other word to describe it. It's funny because I still get so excited when I see wildlife out in the Bay and our guests can tell, they usually ask me how long I've been working for Island Quest (10 Years) because of the level of excitement and enthusiasm I have for what we do.

So! Today was awesome... The Island Quest had a Minke Whale (approx. 30ft) around White Island, the shape of the dorsal fin identified it as a different Minke whale than the one that we have been watching regularly. The Island Quest stayed for over an hour with the friendly giant and to our surprise "he" wanted to check us out as much as we wanted to see him. The Whale SPY HOPPED! An amazing thing to see, it is thought that whales do this to get a better view of what is on the surface, whether it be prey in the case of some species of whale or to watch the whale watchers in our case!

This particular Minke was travelling quite a bit though not staying down for too long of a duration, the guests onboard were lucky enough to see, hear and even smell "him" as "he" exhaled at the surface.

Not only were the whales great (at one point we were watching 2 Minkes at the same time) but we also saw 5 American Bald Eagles on our short but wildlife-packed 3 hour departure. Seals were swimming around the boat on many occasions while we were watching other marine life and taking in the great scenery around East Quoddy Head Lighthouse. Notice the immature eagle sitting on the rocks in front of the lighthouse.

The tide was on it's way in so the seals (Harbour and Gray) were mostly in the water around Splitting Knife and locally known Ram's Ledge on Casco Bay Island. Being very inquisitive, the seals often watch us as much as we watch them!

I'll leave you with some video clips as well as some photos that I couldn't help but post from today, also a note to say THANK YOU so much to the great folks that have gone Cruisin' with the Whales. The emails, photos and comments are all wonderful, we hope to see you out again!

Eagle

Calm Seas

Friendly Giants, upclose and personal!

Calm seas, no fog and great wildlife!

Greetings from St. Andrews, NB! The weather has been great for the past few days and we have been taking full advantage of i! The Island Quest has had some AWESOME sightings, friendly Minkes have been the highlight for our guests the past few days. Here are some photos I took while out on

the Island Quest.

The two photos are of the same Minke, notice the hooked dorsal fin on it's back. Minkes are on average between 20 and 30 feet in length.

This particular Minke has been sighted a few times on our departures in and around Campbobello Isl. and Whitehorse Isl.

The islands and beautiful scenery make for a wonderful backdrop when photographing the marine wildlife that we are so lucky to have in this area.











Always a pleasure to watch, the local Harbour Seals and Gray Seals haul out and sun themselves as the tide goes down over the rocks.

Minkes in Quoddy River!

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Canada Day from the crew here at Island Quest! We had such a beautiful day today out on the Bay. Island Quest's sightings included a Minke, Gray Seals, Harbour Seals, Porpoise, Eagles and lots of nesting sea birds. The weather was great, though there was a fog bank hanging off in the distance, our guests were awesome and I got to chat with all of them during our cruise. Here are a few videos and photos of our friendly wildlife provided to you by the crew at your local Island Quest Marine, Your Ultimate Bay of Fundy Adventure! I look forward to seeing you soon!