Whales-n-Sails
Adventures - Grand Manan Island
New
Brunswick, Canada
2012 Season Review
Whale Watching trips - June 23th to September 16th, 2012 - Lots of whales around again this year. Late June thru August and into September we saw humpback whales and finback whales everyday. There were very few right whales in the Bay of Fundy this year and as such, we only had a few days with right whale sightings - very unusual for us! Lots of Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) again this summer and the usual sightings of basking sharks, seals, harbour porpoise and such. On the unusual side, we saw White-sided and White-beaked dolphins on several occasions, a Sei whale, several Sperm whales and never-seen-before-in-the-Bay-of-Fundy, we saw a Bowhead whale, a visitor from the arctic.
BIRD WATCHING - As usual, every trip should be considered a "bird watching trip" as well as a whale watching trip. 2012 was a bird watcher's dream.....again. An abundance and variety of sea birds including regulars like greater shearwaters, sooty shearwaters, Wilson's storm-petrels, Leache's storm-petrels, atlantic puffins, red and red-necked phalaropes, northern gannets, and others. This year will be remembered as the "year of the South polar skewa with several sightings and jaegers, lots of jeagers. On most trips we see hundreds and hundreds of sea birds and often it is thousands and thousands of birds. The Bay of Fundy around Grand Manan Island is rich in the food-fish and plankton that birds feed on.
For an idea of what we have seen in other years, take a look at some of our reports from previous years HERE and be sure to look at the videos on our You Tube page.
Other trips of interest: - We did our Dark Side trips every Thursday morning in July at 7:30 to the western side of Grand Manan Island. 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. The western side of the Island 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. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from Laurie's knowledge and experience.
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