Field Notes

Par Sami Jay Wagner-Beaulieu et Hugo Catineau, techniciens pilote de drone pour la brigade béluga rive sud The arrival of…

Tuesday, August 27, 8:00 a.m.: I’m due to meet the research team of Tadoussac’s Group for Research and Education on Marine…

By : Sarah Duquette, resource management technician for Parks Canada This morning, my alarm went off at 5:30 and, believe me,…

By Estelle Pagé It’s 6 in the morning, and my sailing shift has just begun. After six days in the…

I’m riding the ferry between Trois-Pistoles and Les Escoumins when my phone rings. To be honest, I miss the call…

7 Short Blasts and 1 Long Blast “I was woken up by seven short blasts followed by one long one.…

Friday morning, September 22, 2023. Warning: Not for the faint of heart! I wake up shortly after dawn. The golden…

It's 5:45 a.m., and I'm already awake and excitedly waiting for news from the research team of the Group for…

September 14, 2023 will remain a date forever engraved in my memory. It was a strange and surreal day, Which…

By Eliza-Jane Morin, Resource Management Officer, Parks Canada During the summer months, the Parks Canada conservation team in the Saguenay-St.…

Once a week during the summer season, we carry out predator-prey monitoring in the lower estuary. The objective of this…

By Cristiane Albuquerque, ecologist and acting team lead at the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park I had the opportunity to spend…

Today, June 21, 2023, is National Indigenous Peoples Day. I want to emphasize this, since I will be sailing on…

It’s late morning on Friday, June 2, when the phone rings. It’s the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network (QMMERN)…

The slow start to the 2023 season in the Lower Estuary continues, with still very few observations of large whales.…

I like it when these field notes are representative of our daily observations on the water. It goes without saying…

To begin these field notes, we first need to travel back in time to September 1999. It was one of…

Another season is underway, and here I am once again with field notes that you will find posted on this…

Since 2019, I ‘ve been making an annual migration to Mexico for a few months each year, more precisely to…

As part of a training course, my colleague and UMM technician Méduline Chailloux and I met on a Saturday morning…

From February 3 to 9, the Fifth International Marine Protected Areas Congress, IMPAC5, was held in Vancouver. The event was…

Saturday, September 17: The weather is beautiful and the participants of the Béluga Ultra Trail (web page in French) race…

Protecting the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park requires teamwork. Research makes it possible to better understand various issues related to the…

In the early afternoon of Monday, September 5, the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network call centre receives a report…

Every summer since 2003, the Parks Canada team has been scrutinizing the waters in and around Baie Sainte-Marguerite to tally…

“Hey look! Over there! A beluga!” Posted on our observation platform on the sacred mountain of Gros-Cacouna, Sami and I…

The week of July 11 to 15 marked the second year of sampling for our project in collaboration with Fisheries…

Since 1994, sampling has been conducted on nearly 3,000 excursionsin the heart of the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park by the…

On the evening of June 20, 2022, the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network (QMMERN) gets wind that a harbour…

The arrival of spring is synonymous with change. The days are getting longer, multiple species of whales are returning to…

[Continuation of article “What does GREMM do in winter? (2/2)”] Every winter, when the whales leave the Estuary, many of…

Every year, when the month of April kicks off in the Haute-Côte-Nord region, an indescribable emotion begins to flow through…

When fall arrives and the whales leave the St. Lawrence Estuary for the winter, GREMM takes its boats out of…

For the past few years, I’ve been making the occasional winter trip to Mexico, just for the sake of warming…

By Mathieu Marzelière with the collaboration of Laurence Tremblay [Continuation of article “Destination Azores with Expedition Glacialis (Part 1 of…

By Mathieu Marzelière with the collaboration of Laurence Tremblay Laurence and I work for GREMM as research assistants. For several…

For many years now, I have regularly gone out on the water every summer as well as a good part…

By René Roy For several years now, I’ve been plying the waters of the St. Lawrence in order to observe…

By Renaud Pintiaux, naturalist and wildlife photographer   The whale-watching season in the waters between Tadoussac and Les Escoumins ended…

By Laura Zeppetelli This fall, I had the opportunity to leave my office in downtown Montréal to board the Bleuvet…

By Alexandre Bernier-Graveline How do you imagine the day-to-day life of a member of GREMM’s research team? Hair blowing in…

By Marie-Maude Rondeau This summer, I’m working as a responder for the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network (QMMERN). I’m…

By Jaclyn Aubin This summer, I was lucky enough to pass two weeks on the Grande-Île de Kamouraska, accompanied by…

By Mathieu Roy As a research assistant, I have the chance to spend part of my days aboard whale-watching cruises…

Whether on water or on land, the research activities carried out by the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM)…

In my after-work hours, I write poetry. Drafting texts on whales is quite new to me. When I joined the…

My name is Stéphanie, and I’m one of GREMM’s (Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals) research assistants for…

Many of the humpback whales observed in summer in the St. Lawrence spend part of the winter in their breeding…

Migration is truly underway in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and is in full swing at the tip of the…

Back on the water for the 2021 season. It should be a great summer offshore, between Tadoussac and Les Escoumins.…

On February 19, a senior officer of a cargo ship passing through the St. Lawrence Estuary photographed blue whales off…

By Alexandre Bernier-Graveline and Mathieu Marzelière For GREMM’s research team, winter is usually synonymous with compiling, processing and analyzing images…

Field notes written in collaboration with Laurence Tremblay A field season full of surprises is coming to an end for…

Whether on water or on land, the research activities carried out by the Group for Research and Education on Marine…

Since 8 o’clock in the morning, GREMM (Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals) research assistant Mathieu Marzelière has…

What a pleasure it is to cross paths with large rorquals! This week, we encountered two blue whales, nearly a…

This year, GREMM’s (Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals) season of field research kicked off on June 15.…

Friday, May 15, 9:30 a.m. Fully dressed and knapsack ready to go, I can hardly wait to kick off this special…

A few days ago, I set sail out of Matane with a friend of mine. In the protected waters between…

By Valeria Vergara, researcher with Ocean Wise’s Marine Mammal Conservation Research Program, specialist of acoustic communication in beluga whales and collaborator…

6:30 a.m.: The alarm goes off, sounding the start of a new day in the field. I’m not in Tadoussac,…

At the time of his most recent interview with a Whales Online intern in the fall of 2018, Michel Martin,…

Revisiting the photos I took this past summer, I pondered some of the specific markings I had observed on blue…

By Anik Boileau, Veterinary Science Researcher and Director of CERSI With the arrival of fall in the Sept-Îles region, it’s…

October 9: an Indian summer day, a calm St. Lawrence, spectacular fall foliage… the BpJAM sets sail for one of its…

By Valerie Jolicoeur, master student at UQAM This fall, I embarked on a major Master’s project that focuses on the…

The last trip offshore for the year took place on November 4. Here is the second part of these Field…

September 6: While part of the team is returning from Alaska to lend a hand to researchers studying the beluga…

By Maude-Émilie Bourque August 28, 2019: it’s my last day as a volunteer research assistant for the GREMM this season.…

By Maude-Émilie Bourque Sunday, August 25, 2019. I leave for Grandes-Bergeronnes at the crack of dawn with my equipment: camera…

On the morning of July 26, the Bleuvet sets sail from the port of Tadoussac to study belugas. With 6 people on…

July 3, 2019: The BpJAM is back at sea for the 2019 field season, with the same crew as last…

By Mathieu Marzelière At last! GREMM’s 2019 field season is officially underway. This first week was devoted to Fisheries and…

I finally encountered my first large rorqual of the season! And it was about time: I had already travelled 240…

By Albert Michaud This winter, I had the chance to leave Quebec and go “down South”. Not to the Caribbean…

In last week’s Field Notes, we presented the preparatory steps for beluga matching. This week, discover how the team adds…

One of the pillars of the research conducted at the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals(GREMM) is photo-identification.…

It all started with Marie-Ève, my Editor-in-Chief, asking me, “Would you like to spend a week with skeletons, Jass?” Next…

It is the end of the 2018 season on the water but there is still life at sea. It is…

Gloomy weather, but the river is calm on this October 29th as I embark on the Grand Fleuve for a whale-watching excursion.…

Clear blue sky, low winds, calm sea… The perfect conditions for a productive day of photo-identification and photogrammetry. All we…

By Mathieu Marzelière and Albert Michaud Monday, August 27, 2018. Aboard the BpJAM, we set out of the Tadoussac port…

Monday, August 13, 2018: At the crack of dawn, the BpJAMM crew heads out toward the mid-channel buoy in perfect…

On Wednesday, August 8, the Bleuvet team was on the water searching for a herd of belugas to carry out…

By Valeria Vergara and Marie-Ana Mikus (guest researchers from Ocean Wise Conservation Association) Time flies on the beluga research tower…

Although this technique is already used in other cetacean species – including killer whales and right whales – it is…

By Mathieu Marzelière and Albert Michaud A new season is getting underway aboard GREMM's Zodiac, the BpJAM. New season, new…

By Jaclyn Aubin Last Saturday, as I hauled myself up onto the platform of the tower, I felt a flutter…

With new projects being launched this year and continuing regular beluga monitoring, the 2018 field season promises to be rich…

Friday, June 8: after being notified of 3 blue whales purportedly present in the Gaspé region, I decide to head…

A look back at the observations of the last two weeks off Tadoussac. At the end of May, it was…

Whale-watching cruises in the Tadoussac region resumed on April 27. After six months on land, what a joy it is…

Thursday, January 4, 2018: while a weather bomb is pummelling Quebec, I have an appointment at 7:30 in the morning…

The field season ended on November 4. But there are still quite noteworthy observations (marine mammals, birds, landscapes) and two…

The 2017 season is over! Autumn is already well upon us in Tadoussac, the sailboats have been taken out of…

A difficult autumn… For the past two weeks, the weather has not been on our side. A significant number of…

Hunters on the Prowl! A few weeks ago, we observed a beluga whale spitting on the water surface to hunt herring.…

This week, we are giving the floor to Alexandre Bernier-Graveline, UQAM Master’s candidate in bioaccumulation and the effects of environmental…

Belugas in the Mud From September 1 to 9, we were back in Anchorage, Alaska, for a second year in…

From May to October, five days a week, the Bleuvet criss-crosses the St. Lawrence River in search of herds of…

August 21: The Bleuvet is stationed off of L'Anse-à-la-Boule. The weather is particularly calm. Amidst the last patches of fog…

Monday morning, August 7. My vacation kicks off and pushes me to the opposite coastline, in the direction of the…

It all begins on the morning of July 10, 2017, a rather ordinary day. The weather is fairly mild, visibility…

Our team began to see the first calves of the year several weeks ago already, but in the past two…

When you take a whale-watching trip, you need to be lucky to observe a breaching session. To watch two such…

Last July 13, 2017, I spent my day on the water in search of large rorquals to photograph. The weather…

According to data provided by the Mingan Island Cetacean Study, the humpback whale H626 (MICS catalogue number) – known as…

Identifying  Individual Belugas Belugas are not one of the most easily recognizable whale species. They do not systematically show their…

Teeming with marine life, the St. Lawrence Estuary is a wonderful place. As a research assistant at the Group for…

Belugas of Baie Sainte-Marguerite Baie Sainte-Marguerite is probably one of the most enigmatic places within the St. Lawrence beluga population’s…

Topic of my Master’s project: Investigation of Allomothering in St. Lawrence Belugas For a long time, studies of cetaceans were…

Rolling the Dice After a first week spent in the upstream sector on the north shore side, the week of…

No sooner do we exit Tadoussac Bay when we spot a herd of belugas between Ilet-aux-Morts and Pointe-Noire. It was…

June 2, 2017. Foray off Tadoussac and an exceptional morning observation! According to my information, this is the first one…

On May 3, the carcass of a young humpback whale was found beached in Godbout. Following sampling for research purposes,…

The month of May is a bit chilly out on the water and windows of favourable weather are somewhat narrower…

In the past few days, spotting and locating minke whales and fin whales off the coast of Tadoussac has proven…

On Saturday, May 13, together with Katy Gavrilchuk and David Gaspard, members of the Mingan Islands Cetacean Study (MICS) team,…

Dear readers, The most observant amongst you may have noticed a new name beneath some of our articles in the…

On Friday, May 5, I made my first trip out to sea of the 2017 season. Usually I make this…

Since May 1, I finally have the pleasure once again to sail the waters of the St. Lawrence Estuary… to…

April 10, 2017. Back on the rocks of Cap de Bon-Désir. Rather quickly, I spot with my binoculars a herd…

March 21, 2017. Afternoon of dream at the Cape of Bon-Désir, near Les Bergeronnes. A river ever so serene. As…

In summer, the Bleuvet and BpJAM ply the waters of the St. Lawrence and the Saguenay Fjord to study the…

By Renaud Pintiaux January 17 and 18: I’m back on the rocks of Cape de Bon-Desir. Once again, it’s the…

By Renaud Pintiaux The year’s off to a great start! January 2: I’ve no sooner arrived at Cap de Bon-Desir,…

November 25, 2016, Cap de Bon-Désir: moderate winds from the northeast and a few flurries begin to fall this morning.…

Rain and wind have pummelled the Haute-Côte-Nord region in recent days, but no matter! I've been spending a lot of…

By Mériscope October 23, 2016: last trip out to sea. The 6th season of photo-identifying St. Lawrence minke whales is…

The season on the water is over, but marine mammals have yet to leave the area! From November 5 to…

November 5: we're back on the waters of the Estuary for the last whale-watching cruise of 2016. Shortly after leaving…

The field season is drawing to a close, and for real this time! Nevertheless, whales are still numerous off Tadoussac…

I didn't suspect that I would close out the 2016 season with so many humpback sightings in the Estuary. This…

Final Week with the Belugas Autumn has now been in full swing in Tadoussac for a few weeks and, as…

The offshore season has been extended one week... Awesome! On October 30, ours was the only boat out at sea.…

December 9, 2015: from the rocks of Cap de Bon-Desir, I spotted five fin whales with my binoculars and took…

This week we speak with Anthony Simond, who spent two weeks aboard the Bleuvet in September 2016 to collect bacteria…

October 17: offshore foray out of Tadoussac. Near Prince Shoal, we first cross paths with several minke whales feeding near…

October 13, 2016: With the beautiful autumn light and breathtaking landscapes, it was another splendid trip out to sea from…

Curious Belugas... and a Humpback This week we are resuming regular photo-ID work of our St. Lawrence belugas. We're treated…

The past several days have been quite spectacular off the coasts of our villages. What diversity! There is a strong…

In the Lower Estuary, it seems that fall is the best time to observe blue whales. Compared to other species,…

Beluga Pregnancy Tests: Data Collection Complete! The fourth and final collection of biopsies to determine the proportion of pregnant female…

When searching for large rorquals, just because you have a good boat and you head to a known offshore feeding…

Chatty males! This week, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather to visit the downstream sector, where we regularly encounter…

Today I would like to share a particularly phenomenal cruise that I had the chance to take. Arriving at our…

More than ten years ago, I first laid eyes on the largest animal that Earth has ever seen: the blue…

The Astonishing Miss Frontenac This week, fog forced us to work once again in the Saguenay, but luck is on…

August 30, 2016: a long 10-hour day out on the water. Eighty-five nautical miles cruising along the south and north…

Another beautiful morning on the water off of Tadoussac. Variable cloudiness and calm waters. A pair of fin whales near…

More great moments were enjoyed off Tadoussac on the morning of August 25, 2016. Moderate winds from the southwest and…

Belugas of Cook Inlet (cont'd.) Second week with belugas in Alaska. Even if the scenery and water colour are a…

"The blue whale is the biggest whale, right?" That's a question I hear often. Well yes! The blue whale, which can…

On the afternoon of August 16, 2016, a young humpback whale, probably Fleuret's calf, was surface feeding. Together with other…

Following a fantastic day off Tadoussac on August 17, 2016, here is an album exceptionally full of photos, all taken…

With the Belugas… of Cook Inlet From August 10 to 23, the Bleuvet team defected to go lend a hand…

Despite pleasant summertime temperatures, sustained winds of 20 to 35 knots force me to stay downwind of Cap Gaspé. I…

On the morning of August 13, as the tide was rising, we identify a group of fin whales in the…

Lots of action off shore in recent days. Of course, there are those rarities that have been observed on several…

In recent weeks, it seems impossible to go out on the water without seeing at least a hundred or so…

Calves, calves, and more calves. The beluga calving season is in full swing. Despite the newborn mortalities recorded in recent…

The morning of August 5 is a difficult one out on the water. Shooting photos from a small Zodiac is…

This week we give the floor to our collaborator Valeria Vergara, a research scientist at the Vancouver Aquarium, who has…

In the past few months, I've learned that photo-identification work has nothing to do with artistic photography. Indeed, it is…

In recent days, we've been observing gatherings of hundreds of gray seals off of Tadoussac. Above them, flocks of herring…

Mom, Can You Hear Me? — Continuation In the summer of 2015, we carried out a pilot project to assess…

Start of the Calving Season For belugas, the calving period runs from June to September. So it's no wonder that…

It is often said that the St. Lawrence is a smorgasbord for whales. Indeed, the river has several characteristics that…

Four to six fin whales have set up camp in recent days in the area between Tadoussac and Les Escoumins.…

A late start but some big reunions... After a series of mechanical problems, the Bleuvet is finally back on the water this…

Despite several days of adverse conditions, last week proved to be very conducive for observing fin whales in the Marine…

When we boarded the boat at 11:30 a.m. on June 28, I had noticed the layer of fog that was shrouding…

Thursday, June 30: two friends and I set out for L'Anse-au-Griffon for a "hit-and-run" birding mission. Our goal is to…

After several days of waiting in early June, a window of favourable weather finally arrived on June 18. And so…

June 24, 2016: a fantastic trip off of Tadoussac to celebrate Saint-Jean Baptiste Day! Bright sun, light winds. Breathtaking landscapes. Our…

Several research teams made their inaugural trips of the season in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence in recent…

On the morning of June 3, as our boat sat motionless for several minutes off the Prince Shoal Lighthouse, two…

On the morning of May 31, it was a thrill to locate no fewer than six fin whales between Prince…

On the morning of May 29, we observe five fin whales offshore between Tadoussac and Les Bergeronnes. Their huge blasts…

The first trip of the season is definitely one of the most exhilarating. The excitement of being on the water…

How great it feels to be on the water again! A new season begins... Back to the majestic St. Lawrence,…

At the dawn of the beluga seasonal migration, one question remains: where will they winter? This question is at the…

[caption id="attachment_16956" align="alignright" width="150"] Rorqual commun non reconnu[/caption] On December 5, through my binoculars, I spot five fin whales, two…

Luck and patience. These are the two key words if ones hopes to enjoy interesting sightings of marine mammals from…

November 30, 2015: Tadoussac: I'm walking on the beach, from Tadoussac Bay to the dunes. At this time of year…

It's one of the last trips offshore for the 2015 season. There's a tinge of sadness, for sure, but it's…

A strong wind is blowing from the west-southwest today, Monday, October 19. Nevertheless, I have the pleasure of observing a…

Mission accomplished! It's the third and last week of the intensive biopsy program for St. Lawrence belugas. Our goal is…

The wind is blowing from the northwest. It's a sunny but chilly day. The beauty of the landscape is breathtaking:…

Biopsies Made Challenging by the Wind In this second week of the intensive beluga biopsy program, we have spent 16…

THE MYSTERY OF BAIE SAINTE-MARGUERITE This week, we take a closer look at the intensive beluga biopsy program spearheaded by…

One, two, three...four newborns are surrounding us! In 18 hours with belugas this week, we conducted four censuses and encountered…

I had a great outing in the Estuary on September 22 together with Katy and David, two members of the…

MOM, CAN YOU HEAR ME? This week, the team had 11 encounters in 22 hours with belugas. Two boats were…

Good news for calves! In 14 hours with belugas, we conducted four censuses and a total of 10 calves were…

Sunday, September 13: as usual, I had to deal with the tide when putting my boat into the water and…

My expectations are low as I leave the Tadoussac wharf on the morning of September 9, a heavy blanket of…

YOGI SWIMS UP THE SAGUENAY ALONE This week, fog is prevalent. Our observations had to be cut short. Nevertheless, we…

September 10: this morning, calm conditions seem to be reigning off the coast of Tadoussac. This is but an illusion.…

A BELUGA THAT SHOWS ITS TEETH Several hours at sea for Week 6 in the field! In total: 20 hours…

Not this week at least! On several cruises, observers old and young smiled as they discovered harbour porpoises, those small,…

After a morning working in the lab, I finally head offshore in the afternoon to join the whales. Earlier that…

I had heard that the St. Lawrence is one of the few places where one can observe blue whales, even…

Waves, fog and wind await me off of Tadoussac. Even before boarding the zodiac, I know that today will not…

The river is calm. The Sun is shining brightly above our heads. A storm looms in the distance, coming from…

Photos: © René Roy I just woke up from a dream ... A dream in which I was at a…

How can we forget that we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world when, on this…

In recent days, gannet observations almost overshadow those of whales, at least as far as I'm concerned! They number in…

BELUGAS AND WAVES! It's been a tough week for working out at sea. However, we have completed three surveys and…

We are in the 4th week of field work for the St. Lawrence beluga behavioural study. We have gone out…

RESEARCHERS' TIPS TO RECOGNIZE THEM In the course of three days at sea, as part of our behavioural study project…

Our second week in the field for the beluga behavioural study was spread over three non-consecutive days (July 6, 9…

Almost five days on the water and some 250 nautical miles covered in the Gaspé-Percé sector from June 30 to…

The field season for the St. Lawrence beluga behavioural study is under way. The first week consisted of three days…

Le Bleuvet has been taken out of the water for the winter. For the past two weeks, the team was…