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August 25, 2010

The Tail of a Whale on Digby Neck

By Wally Hayes on August 25, 2010 3:35 PM 0 0 Vote 0 Votes

22_Whale_Panorama

Every summer without fail, I make at least one or two trips to Digby Neck in Southwest Novs Scotia to photograph whales in the Bay of Fundy.

There are many things to see and do on Digby Neck . . . hiking, camping, bird watching and rock hounding to name a few . . . but it is undoubtedly whales that are the biggest attraction.

When I first went to see whales on Brier Island at the western tip of Digby Neck more than 20 years ago, whale watching, as we now know it, was something relatively new.

Carl Haycock, who was doing research on whales off Brier Island, began taking people out as a way of helping to fund his whale studies, Today, many of the whale watching boats that operate along Digby Neck are skippered by local fishermen who were always aware of the abundance of whales, but never realized their potential for additional income during the off season.

One thing I've learned over the years is that when you're dealing with mother nature, you deal with her on her terms . . . in other words whale sightings are not 100% guaranteed.

However, I've been out with Carl and most of the other skippers many times over the years and I have never failed to see at least one whale or two. The only times I've been skunked is when we weren't able to go out at all because of dense fog or a storm.

The Bay of Fundy is the summer home to a variety of whales including Minke, Finback, Humpback and the rare and endangered Right Whale. There are also a variety of sea birds, dolphins and seals to be seen. Most whale watching trips last about four hours and it pays to dress warmly as the air temperature drops noticeably when you're out on the water barely in sight of land.

The skippers of whale watching boats are friendly competitors and if one sights a whale, he is soon on the radio to alert other boats that there is a whale in the area.

However, they operate under a strict set of self-imposed rules. They never allow more that two to three boats, preferably two, near a whale at one time and try to keep a reasonable distance from the whales.

However, the distance rule is often broken by the whales themselves. When a boat is stationary with its engine stopped, it is not uncommon for a whale to approach and stick it's head out of the water beside the boat for closer look at the people on board.

Or they will slide silently under the boat with a head on one side and the tail on the other. The fin, humpback and right whales are much larger that the whale watching boats, but they are docile and seem to enjoy the company of people.

Whale watching is a great experience for the whole family and if you have an opportunity to do it on a visit to Nova Scotia, don't pass it up. I, for one, never tire of seeing these giant creatures up close and personal. Of course, they make for great photography. All the accompanying photos were taken on a single trip this summer.