Trèfle

We were cruising along the mouth of the Saguenay near îlet aux Morts when we spotted Trèfle in a flock of around sixty individuals, white adults and young gray adults. We also recognize Nics – a Saguenay male with his mate DL0218 – while Trèfle is a male from the “Downstream boys” network, particularly observed between Tadoussac and Les Escoumins.

The animals are very active : a “scene” representative of our encounters with herds of young males. Some belugas raise their heads to the surface, as if to spy on us, while others raise their tails out of the water. They dive and rise several times in a current bar, probably where the prey is trapped. An hour later, the tide reverses and the current bar eases. The animals’ behavior changes : they move very slowly downstream, taking advantage of the ebbing tide.

South of Île Rouge. A herd of females accompanied by youngsters, including two calves and two bleuvets, swim in circles, without any apparent movement. In the center of the herd, a large group, 8 whites and 4 large grays, come and go in tight formation. Clearly, from their size, they are males. As autumn approaches, mixed herds are becoming more frequent. Several individuals were identified during the contact : Miss Frontenac, Tadou, Nics… and Trèfle… whom we hadn’t seen since 2010.