Whales-n-Sails
Adventures - Grand Manan Island
New
Brunswick, Canada
2009 Season Review
ONE WORD DESCRIBES THE 2009 SEASON- OUTSTANDING! WOW! WHAT A SEASON FOR WHALES AND BIRDS! 2009 will be remembered for the number of whales and the fact that we would see several species each day. The finback whales were here in full force, feeding in groups of 3 or 4 and often groups of 10 or 15 with several groups in the same area - Very exciting with lots of action. The humpback whales were closer to the Island this season so we saw lots of them every day - Lots of breaching, flipper slapping, tail lobbing and feeding activity. And right whales - lots of right whales, many with calves joined us for the summer.
While it is more common for us to see 10 or more whales during a trip than it is for us to see 1 or 2 whales, the 2009 season set a record for us. In past seasons we have had days where we have seen 40 to 60 individual whales during a trip, this season we had a day where we saw near 100 whales (possibly more as it is difficult to keep count) on one trip - OUTSTANDING!
SEABIRDS - there was an abundance of birds in the Bay of Fundy in the summer of 2009. Huge number of shearwaters, petrels, phalaropes, puffins and more. For an idea of what to expect for bird species on the Bay of Fundy please check here on our sea birds page.
We saw white-beaked dolphins and white-sided dolphins on occasion. Harbour porpoise were an every day sighting. Saw a few basking sharks, ocean sunfish and even saw a breaching (jumping out of the water) thresher shark on 2 occasions which was a first ever sighting of this species for us.
For an idea of what we see take a look at some of our reports from previous years HERE
Other trips of interest: Spring Birdwatching trips and "Around the Island" trips - Last week of May to June 19th (one trip per week) - Again this year we did some trips with the Elderhostel program from the Marathon Inn. Some of the trips were to the Murre Ledges and some were a circumnavigation of the island of Grand Manan.
Murre Ledges trip - These are a series of rock ledges about 7 miles south of Grand Manan and are known nesting areas for a number of pelagic birds. This year the ledges were covered with nesting murres and razorbills. For several years there has been a resident bald eagle that has greatly upset the nesting of the birds, but this year the rocks were covered with birds. We also saw some Atlantic puffins, northern gannets, eider ducks, cormorants and others. As usual there was an abundance of seals in the area.
"Around the Island" trips - These trips took us around Grand Manan and the other islands which make up the Grand Manan group. Lots of birds, seals, geology, fishing and aquaculture activities and great coastal scenery.
Thursday Mornings in July - "Dark-Side" trip - Every Thursday morning in July at 7:30 we did a trip to the "Dark-Side" of Grand Manan. With its high cliffs and strong tidal currents, this side of Grand Manan offers some spectacular scenery, great bird watching and usually a few whales too. This is the western side of the Island which has limited access from the land, and as such, offers a view of a rugged wilderness still untouched by development.
Our Marine Biologist - We are pleased that marine biologist and educator Laurie Murison was part of our team as our on-board naturalist again this season. Laurie is a leading authority on the Bay of Fundy and has been working with the whales and other marine life of the Bay since 1982. She is a lecturer for Elderhostel (Marathon Inn), Whale Camp and other naturalist groups visiting the Island and is the Managing Director of the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station and Museum. Each summer Laurie has worked as a naturalist on a whale watching boat and has spent well over 1000 days on the Bay of Fundy with the whales. Passengers again had the opportunity to learn from Laurie's knowledge and experience.
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