Minke whale with calf and two fin whales

June 2, 2017. Foray off Tadoussac and an exceptional morning observation! According to my information, this is the first one in our sector since… 2003! Near buoy S05 (not far from the mouth of the Saguenay), we spot two minke whales swimming side by side, very close to one another. It is immediately obvious that we are in the presence of an adult minke whale accompanied by a calf!

The latter is barely half the size of its “mom”! These two individuals are very elusive, quick and rather difficult to observe, but I managed to snap a few pictures of… “the family”. In one of these photos, we can see the adult on the left and on her right side, the calf’s head sticking out above the surface. The considerable difference in size between the two dorsal fins can be seen in another photo. A third shot shows a close-up of the calf.

Needless to say, we hope to see this pair of minke whales again in the days to come…

In the past two weeks, none of the “great” whales could be spotted, but this morning, near the tide rip north of Île Rouge, we observe two large spouts. We draw closer and discover two fin whales!

One of them passed quite close to our boat and I was able to get a few photos. Here they are!