Belugas in Gaspé, Seal Acrobatics and Large Rorquals!

Off Cap-des-Rosiers, while conducting transects for the Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS), a cetologist made a remarkable observation. “I encountered the largest group of belugas I’ve ever seen in the gulf,” he describes. Once, however, on July 1, 2021, I observed a group of about a hundred off the coast of Matane.” He estimates the number at over a hundred individuals, split into small groups of about fifteen individuals en route toward the estuary. The captain also mentioned that there were no calves or juveniles in the group, just white adults. “Awesome, but at the same time very surprising!” This isn’t the only place where white whales have been spotted, as about fifteen belugas were swimming off Gallix, while other were reported from Pointe-des-Monts.

Despite all these observations, it is important to remember that, with an estimated population of 1,850 individuals, the St. Lawrence beluga is endangered.  Major factors identified as threats or limitations to the recovery of the population include contamination from chemical products; loss and degradation of habitat; reduction in prey abundance, availability and quality; as well as disturbance. Every observation is therefore precious!  Do you want to help protect them, but don’t know where to start? Here are five actions to help protect this endangered species!

“For the past three weeks, we’ve been regularly observing harbour seals and all sorts of acrobatics in the water,” explains one biologist as he shares his observations with us from the Putep ‘t-awt site in the Lower St. Lawrence. It’s often a similar scene that plays out: Two individuals approach each other, press their snouts together, and begin their antics. “We saw flippers slapping the surface, porpoising, repeated jumps out of the water, cavorting…” Sometimes it seems to be about a fish, but not always. Is this some form of competition? Mating? Fighting? Hard to say! The individuals end up moving away from each other.

Offshore AC and braving the flies

After sailing around the Mingan sector, one woman reported sightings of porpoises, grey seals, and harbour seals. On the hottest days, she heads out to sea to cool off a bit! “Nature’s air conditioning,” she explains with a chuckle. The MICS team reports over 26 sightings of minke whales over the last week, as well as 9 fin whales.

In Godbout, one resident heads out to admire a whale despite the swarms of insects present this time of year. “I’m sitting in my living room and I look out the window toward the river. Surprise! Right there in front of my house is a large rorqual feeding on the surface, not far from shore. It’s drizzling and there are lots of small black flies, but I decide to go out anyway.”

Where are the whales this week? Sightings map

These data were reported by our network of observers. They give an idea of the presence of whales and in no way represent the actual distribution of whales in the St. Lawrence. Just for fun!

Click on the whale or seal icons to discover the species, the number of individuals, additional information or photos of the sighting. To enlarge the map, click on the icon in the top right-hand corner. The map works well on Chrome and Firefox, but not so well on Safari.

To display the list of sightings, click on the icon in the top left-hand corner.

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.

Marie-Andrée Charlebois
Guylaine Côté
Thalia Cohen-Bacry
Laeticia Desbordes
Lilly De Cotret
Eliane Gingras
Jade-Audrey Lavergne
Mathieu Marzelière
Guylaine Marchand
Estelle Pagé
Pascal Pitre
Renaud Pintiaux
Diane Ostiguy
René Roy
Guy Synnott
Laurence Tremblay
Marielle Vanasse
J. Varin
Gabriela Vincent-Parada
Sami Jai Wagner-Beaulieu

And all those we left out!

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]!