Watching Whales

We spent a very stormy night at another bed and breakfast in Saint Michael's, one of my old haunts in Newfoundland. The B&B sat on a bluff overlooking the ocean and in the morning, when the rain stopped, we had our breakfast looking out across the bay watching whales spouting below us and occasionally breaching off in the distance. The owner of the B&B, Jerry Colbert, also ran a small whale watching operation. So after breakfast Jude and I decided to take a trip.

At 9:00 AM we drove down to the wharf in Bauline Harbor and, after a few minutes, Jerry pulled up. Jerry built the boat himself (and, by the look of the bow, had recently repaired it).

Jerry motored out of the harbor. We were joined by Pete and Cheryl, a friendly couple from Ontario who were also staying at Jerry's B&B.

Jude, descended from a long line of Cape Cod whalers, knew how to batten down the hatches on a windy day.

The sea was still rough from the storms of the past few days. Cheryl braced herself in the bow while she got her sea legs.

Rather than trying to stand in the bouncing bow, Pete took up a bench position on the port rail.

Cheryl and Jude scanned the horizon for any sign of whales.

From the top of a wave we had a good view of the ocean around us.

With the boat in a wave trough, the view was more limited.

Despite the limited view, a humpback whale made its presence known with a pectoral fin display.

Another view from the top of next wave.

Surprising everyone on board (except Jerry) the humpback slapped the water with its fin.

Displays and slapping of the pectoral fins are apparently done by males to impress females.

Pete, perhaps feeling threatened by the displays, moved up to the bow for a better look. We circled the area for an hour or so while the whales cavorted.

Eventually, Jerry turned back towards Bauline to pick up the next group scheduled for a tour. But as we neared the small harbor's mouth we had a nice treat...

A young humpback surfaced and dove just in front of the Ocean Adventure.