More Whales!

We decided to stay one more day in Tadoussac and catch up on school and explore some more. We had a spectacular hike climbing over the rocks with great views overlooking the mouth of the Saguenay River and fjord.

Wavey on the rocks

Simon...always on the edge

Watching tender loading from cruise ship to come ashore

Simon (still on the edge) watching the ferry cross the Saguenay

We prepared for yet another early morning departure for our all day trip to Rimouski. We donned warm clothing under our foul weather gear to protect from the grey, wet day.

We were just getting the lines and fenders stowed after casting off, when we started to see the white backs of Belugas. We were not even a mile out when Nahanni V was greeted by smiling whales from all directions. There was no way we could adhere to the 400 metre rule!

We put the engine in neutral and for about an hour, we drifted and observed. We counted as least eight whales including a baby. The whales swam on their backs to look up at us, and we peered over the rail to look at them. A seemingly mutual curiosity kept us focused as we ran back and forth the deck to watch them swim around and under the boat.

John did a stellar job of getting some underwater shots. However, he had to be careful as one of the whales was a bit too interested in the camera!

After some time, one of the whales came by (maybe the Mama?) and the baby swam away with her. Maybe it was time for lunch. 

The whales seemed to notice (as did we), that we were about to drift onto the shore. Before we even put the engine in gear, they rounded each other up, took one last look at us and dove off.  It was the most amazing thing.  

We carried on into fog, with a close eye on the RADAR and big smiles on our faces.

The kids and I were still on the bow when we quickly came upon the large standing waves where the current at the rivers meet. Waves crashed over the bow and we had to hang on to avoid getting thrown overboard. A good lesson to have our harnesses on in seemingly good weather as well as rough seas.  The kids were wet and freezing by the time we were well underway, so we bundled them up in their bunks with hot packs and set a course for Rimouski. We must have seen seven or eight more whales ten miles further out.

Does it get any better than that?