Whale Hunting

Most signs state “Whale Watching Tour” but our naturalist insisted it is more of a “whale hunting tour” as they cannot determine exactly where the whales are running although they have a pretty good idea as they have spotters on the points and in the ocean as well as all the passengers on the boat. 

During our 2.5 hour ride we spotted at least three Fin Whales and several pods of Atlantic White Beak Dolphins, four puffins floating on the water and numerous gannets and murres flying overhead.  Fin Whales are among the largest whales on earth reaching up to 60 feet long which was almost twice the length of the boat we were on.  They would surface 3-4 times then on the last time they would bring their whole body above the water line and then dive for up to 15 minutes before coming back up again.  One Fin Whale was on a mission and actually left a wake as he swam past us.  Some of the dolphins swam with the boat and one pod of dolphins were in a mood to jump out of the water and splash back down (called breaching) many times in a row.  That was very fun to watch.

Look close you can see the wooden steps.

This afternoon we tackled the Dare Devil Trail near the Fox Point Lighthouse. Over 475 wooden steps climb up 500 feet to the top of the cliff.  Once we caught our breath we walked along the ridge top enjoying the view of the Atlantic and one of the coves we cruised in this morning.

Today is our 46th anniversary so we went to dinner in Straitsview (or it might have been St. Lunaire or Quirpon or possibly Griquet - they all run together) where we dined on snow crab and scallops.  A few of the diners got excited about something out side so we looked also and there was a lynx walking on the lawn.  He was very curious but didn’t stick around very long.  What a beautiful creature!  

We drove on down the road a ways to check out the village and decided to stop at Skipper Hot’s Lounge for a night cap.  A live 3-man band was playing Newfoundland tunes (the rhythm guy was playing the ugly stick) while a few ladies danced jigs. Such a neat experience!