Whales or April Fools’ Hoaxes?
While April Fools’ gags were running rampant on social media, reporting all sorts of far-fetched species in the St. Lawrence and unusual behaviours just for laughs on the first day of the month, real whales were actually plying our waters! Large rorquals, belugas, and seals… Here’s a summary of this week’s sightings.
Belugas for spring
“More and more, I’ve been observing a few belugas starting to return to the area,” reports one avid observer. Wildlife seems to be slowly becoming more active after a long winter, the ice is losing its grip along the shoreline, and the landscape is beginning to take on more vibrant colours, including those of the whales in the river. “A blue whale […] in Les Escoumins [and] migratory birds are also gradually returning; spring is right around the corner.”
White whales have also been reported in the mouth of the Saguenay River, at Cap de Bon-Désir, as well as in Les Escoumins, where one enthusiast was able to admire a pair of them. “I was at the ferry terminal in Les Escoumins and wanted to do a little whale watching. Not even three minutes after I get there, I see two belugas coming out in front of the docks! I walk all the way to the end, where I spot a “babyluga” and its mother swimming around between Pointe-à-La-Croix and the wharf. The pair would sometimes come within 20 or 30 metres of the docks; it was incredible. I could even see that the young one had different coloured patches on it. It would often show its tail when taking a breath. They would take a few breaths and then dive, staying underwater a good ten minutes each time.” Groups of up to twenty individuals were also seen.
Large rorquals for a fourth consecutive month
Passing through Les Escoumins, I stop by the pilots’ wharf to admire the river. It’s an accessible observation site where, according to locals, several large rorquals have purportedly passed by in recent days. I warm up with some hot soup from my thermos after spending several hours at Cap de Bon-Désir weathering the bone-chilling winds blowing across the river. Only a few belugas were passing by in the distance, so I took a chance and changed locations.
My meal almost finished and my only sightings having been the waves and the figments of my imagination, I’m getting ready to leave when a large spout appears to my right, close to shore. Dark grey back, curved dorsal fin, powerful blow… No doubt about it, it’s a fin whale amongst the waves! The wind was so strong that it was blowing the animal’s breath in the direction it was swimming, creating a strange effect. A great first sighting for the season, which is off to a strong start!
I’m not the only one to have experienced a first this weekend, as my colleague also observed her first minke whale: “On Saturday morning, I saw my first minke whale of the year at the ferry terminal in Les Escoumins, and on Sunday afternoon, a blue whale near the Natakam condos!” Herds of harp seals, several fin and blue whales, as well as a humpback whale were also reported in the region.
In Baie-Comeau and Franquelin, large rorquals have also been present, with three or four individuals reportedly seen, as well as a minke whale. In Godbout, a resident admires a cetacean: “We had a large rorqual throughout the afternoon. It moved slowly from one end of the village to the other and remained submerged for long stretches. It did this several times.”
Thanks to all our collaborators!
Special thanks go out to all our observers who share their love for marine mammals with us! Your encounters with cetaceans and pinnipeds are always a pleasure to read and discover.
On the water or from shore, it is your eyes that give life to this column.
Odélie Brouillette
Thalia Cohen-Bacry
Patrice Corbeil
Laetitia Desbordes
Geoffroy Ingret
Jade-Audrey Lavergne
Diane Ostiguy
Renaud Pintiaux
Pascal Pitre
Andréanne Sylvain
Marielle Vanasse
J. Varin
And to all the others!
Additionally, we would like to acknowledge the following teams that also share their sightings:
Sept-Îles Research and Education Centre (CERSI)
Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM)
Marine Mammal Observation Network (MMON)
Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network (QMMERN)
Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS)
Would you also like to share your observations?
Have you seen any marine mammals in the St. Lawrence? Whether it’s a spout offshore or just a couple of seals, drop us a line and send your photos to [email protected]!
Andréanne Forest
Andréanne Forest is the editor-in-chief of Whales Online since may 2022. After studying in environment and biology, she turned to science communication with the goal of making science both accessible and fun. Andréanne wishes to highlight the process of acquiring knowledge while transmitting the desire to learn.
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