Whale shopping list

Well, at long last I'm back for a day paddle.  There hasn't been anything wrong; just the no paddling bug seems to have inflicted most of us.

I found out late there was a paddle today in Witless Bay with the hope of catching sight of some whales.  I got on the water first as the rest of the gang of 11 got ready.

Eventually we all got on the water and got underway.  Everyone except Shane and I headed out into open water in the middle of the bay.  Shane and I ...

... decided a bit of rock hopping was more stimulating.

As we made our way east along the shore we hit upon schools of caplin that were as thick as flies.  So thick in fact ...

... Shane was scooping them up bare handed.

Shane and I paddled up to Witless Point, looked to see if we could see the others (we couldn't) and decided to make a short 2 km crossing to Gull Island.  It may be named Gull Island but there were ...

... thousands of Atlantic puffins nesting on the island.  As we approached they took flight.  I had no idea why they felt threatened as we kept well clear of the shore.

In White Horse Cove we checked out this ...

... cave.  Up to that point we didn't get one sniff of a whale or whales.  We emerged from the cave to paddle along the east side of the island and as we passed Long Point Shane spotted a whale breaching in the direction of South Head, Bay Bulls.  After about 10 minutes we heard whale exhalations and ...

... we were with two humpbacks.

They were not doing much just hovering in the water not 10 meters away.  I hoped for a flukes shot and missed a flipper shot, one flipper raised as they left us heading south.  I've had better encounters but this was what we came for so Shane and I were satisfied.  Before moving on I retrieved ...

... a container of three tea buns and we each had one trying to speak about the whales with mouths stuffed.  Finished and the lone tea bun left stashed in Shane's day hatch again we paddled north towards South Head and ...

... into this cove dominated by red hematite stained sandstones.  At the bottom of the cove we took turns ...

... looking out at the world from this massive cave.

Heading west again into Witless Bay harbour we handrailed and investigated another cave in Red Cove, aptly named and sharply contrasting with verdant green vegetation.  Left center in the picture there was one more ...

... cave to check out before heading back uneventfully to the take-out.

Its been too long getting out for a paddle but at least it was a red banner re-introductory day to paddling.  Shane and I got in a bit of rock hopping, saw thousands of seabirds, a coupe of humpbacks and a few caves.  It was just the two of us as we left the other 10 to their own devices.  I think we made the right choice.  Awesome day, thanks Shane.

Among the whales and birds

Saturday seven of us decided it was time to get out among the whales and birds.  The whales have been here for a couple of weeks already but other things got in the way.  After a tour of Witess Bay the community, Dean and I put in above the main road and met the rest for the crossing to ...

... Gull Island.

Suddenly we heard the woosh of whales as they breached for air.  There was no predicting where they would surface.

One here, a bit of a distance away.

One barely visible out where Dean waited patiently for whales to present themselves.

Then my patience paid off.  A whale a bit closer.  These were minke whales and they were oblivious to us as they seemed to be everywhere feeding.

The whales seemed to be heading out of the bay  As we followed them out we reached Gull Island where the fog had set in for the rest of the day.

At the north end of Gull Island Dean and I explored this large cave.  The air temperature was in the mid-20s but inside the cave it was cooler.  The difference in air temperature caused a localized mist on the waters in the cave ...

... that gave an unusual effect to the picture I took of Dean.

We caught up with the others as they paddled along the outside, on the open ocean side of Gull Island.  At the southern end we checked out this cove and cave with screaming birds lodged on every foothold in the rocks.

We tried not to disturb the puffins, cormorants and gulls but it made no difference how far away we stayed.  As we approached they took to the sky in droves.

We left Gull Island and paddled back inside Witless Bay where we stopped for lunch before paddling out across the bay again to Green Island in the fog.

Green Island is also part of the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve packed with sea birds as they dotted the sky.

Sadly, after we reached Gull Island we didn't spot anymore whales.  We saw lots of minkes but not one humpback.  That will have to wait for another day.

Check out Dean's post of our whale watching paddle on his blog.

A whale of a date

Waiting for the boys

The plan at the start of the day was to meet in Middle Cove to see if the iceberg that was grounded there, was still there.  It wasn't but we were not one bit disappointed.  We were in store for some close encounters with whales.

Here they come

Clyde and Tobias joined Dean and myself who had paddled at our leisure towards Motion.  The water was quite active, most waves between 1 and 1.5 meters.  It told us we were on the sea.

A seal

We spotted some plumes from whales breaching in Torbay and made our way over there.  En route, I happened upon a seal that didn't realize I had paddled stealthily up to it.  Hard to see but trust me, its there in the middle of the picture, near the horizon.

 Flukes

There were whale spouts all over the place.  Difficult to say how many were feeding but my guess was between 6 and 10.  The spouts were the first hints they were about.  The sound of the whale clearing its blowhole was a sign they were close.

Waiting

There were lots of gulls overhead and I suspected where they were, so were the whales.  We just floated about hoping the whales would pass by close to our position.  It wasn't long before ...

Another diving

... we heard another woosh and another surfaced before diving back into the depths.  I was close to numerous whales, some coming right towards me, but the active water made them difficult to capture with the camera.  They didn't stay long on the surface as they were busy feeding and once on the surface the wave crests often got in the way.  One dove right in front of me before I could get the camera ready but ...

I see you

... as I looked down into the water under my boat I saw the white flippers of the humpback, plunged the camera into the water and hoped.

Cat and mouse

Another set of flukes racing away.

 Crossing

We saw a couple of plumes across the bay near the Rocky Hills in Outer Cove so we went to have a look.  When we got there they had disappeared.

Oh well, we had a very good first day of whale watching.  I've been lucky to have paddled close to whales numerous times but no matter how often it happens its always an awestruck moment.

We paddled to Torbay Point where it got gnarly before paddling back to Middle Cove, stopping in Outer Cove for lunch.  Those pictures for a later day.

Here's a link to Dean's blog with a few other shots of the whales today.

A yaffle of whales

Torbay Beach

The community of Torbay is located about 1o kilometres from downtown St. John's. It used to be primarily a fishing and farming community. Torbay fishermen were good oarsmen in their day but not as good as those in Outer Cove where I grew up!

Anyway, today most residents work in the big city but the sea is still there and it called us on this day. Its a spectacular paddle and so close at hand. But, it is not to be paddled on just any day. The waters of Tor Bay can get gnarly so you have to pick the right day. Clyde, Dean, Gary, Sean and I took advantage and had a very enjoyable day paddling to Flatrock and back.

Leaving Torbay

Leaving Torbay and heading for any number of coves. Any little indentation in the shoreline deserves a name and so we paddled along Gallows Cove, Cow Cove, Herring Cove. That's just the names that fit on the map. I'm sure local fishermen have many other quaint names that I'll never know.

One of many whales in the bay

Paddling north from Torbay towards Flatrock we saw 3 plumes of spray. Then, we heard more behinds us at about 4 o'clock. There were whales and plenty of them. I can't say how many in total but we were in the right place on this day.

We got relatively close in a few instances with numerous display of flukes but they weren't sociable today. They seemed intent on feeding and didn't really pay us much heed. Still, the presence of so many whales added to the anticipation and excitement. After a while we decided to let the whales be and paddled on.

Massive slabs of rock

The sedimentary rock beds are massive but persistence by the sea over eons have found a weakness to carve out a cave. Clyde provides perspective for this huge cave as he floats on turquoise waters.

The sun split the rocks

It was a cloudless day with bright sunshine. The sun behind us reflected off of the grey coloured sandstones that really made the etching in the rocks stand out.

The cliffs were imposing

The cliffs rose straight out of the water. Thousands and thousands of birds were nesting on the ledges and flying all around us overhead. Don't look up!!!

A fine layer of guano has built up on some cliff surfaces which added to the aroma of sea air.

Flatrock Point

On a map Flatrock Point is not very imposing but the cliffs were impressive. Inside lay the community of Flatrock and our lunch stop.

Going to check out another cave

I was the only one in the group who had paddled in Flatrock before (I believe) and I had seen the cave hence. That meant we had to go have a look before stopping for lunch.

Hauled out for lunch

Caving done, we opted for a take-out just outside the community where the rocks dipped gently into the sea. The rocks were covered in kelp which made for an easy run up onto the rocks even in a fibreglass boat.

After lunch Clyde and I jumped into the salt water and then went to shower in the fresh water falls in the picture.

Fed and cooled down we were ready to head back to Torbay. We did so but in a roundabout way. Trying to engage more whales, with some success.

An amazing place to paddle that's right on our doorstep but so rarely taken advantage of.

Humpback encounter

Hello there

Saturday Stan and I had the good fortune to share some time with a humpback whale in Bull Arm. It had surfaced next to Stan about 200 metres away and before I knew it the whale was under me. I could see the white flippers in the waters beneath my kayak and motioned to Stan to come.

Its a very un-nerving feeling knowing such a leviathan is directly underneath the boat but, it was a gentle giant. It rose to the left of my boat and looked straight at me. I can't find the words to describe the feeling but maybe "spiritual" comes close. Words were not spoken but I felt there was a communication between us.

It sank back under the water, disappeared for some moments and rose again to wave its flipper at me.

A conversation ensued

Stan arrived and we shared a close encounter. We sat in our kayaks transfixed with what we were experiencing.

This shot is not as sharp as I'd have liked but you get the picture. I rushed to get the picture and didn't wait for the camera to finish focusing.

So much unseen

The whale bobbed around us; so much of its mass unseen beneath the water. Except by Stan who got lots of great shots on his Kayaking Dreamin' blog.

Just hanging around

At times it raised its head and other times it just swam around us, every now and then exhaling air with a fine mist of water.

I lost track of time. Maybe it was 5 minutes, maybe 15 and the whale swam off. Later we heard it a kilometre or so in the distance and paddled over to re-establish contact. It approached but did not stop.

Good bye friend

And, so, on this day we said our good byes. We'd only come into contact for a short time but I'm left with lasting memories.