{"id":49586,"date":"2018-09-26T15:14:19","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T15:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/une-foret-de-souffles-2\/"},"modified":"2020-03-31T20:23:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T20:23:44","slug":"a-forest-of-spouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/a-forest-of-spouts\/","title":{"rendered":"A Forest of Spouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

On September 23, no sooner does the cruise begin when the captain yells out \u201cBreach<\/a>!\u201d Off\u00a0Les Bergeronnes<\/b>, the 15-metre long body of a humpback crashes with a loud splash on the water surface. The excitement can be heard on board as the Zodiac approaches the scene: the whale breaches again, once, twice\u2026 six times! Then, in a few seconds, the boat is surrounded by the horse-like heads of grey seals. Then the\u00a0spouts<\/a>\u00a0begin to appear, some as close as 100 metres and others nearly 1 kilometre away. \u201cIt\u2019s like a forest of spouts,\u201d exclaims one passenger as she loses count of the blows all around the boat. Fin whales and humpbacks breathing in every direction, pectoral fins slapping the surface, bodies and heads poking out of the water and glistening in the oblique sunlight of late September. \u201cThe most amazing cruise of 2018!,\u201d exclaims the captain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Could the storm and its strong winds over the past few days have played a role in this concentration of whales, seals and birds? It\u2019s possible. Wind stirs up waves and can alter the concentrations of whales\u2019 prey by modifying surface currents.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the\u00a0Gasp\u00e9 Peninsula<\/b>, gusts of up to 120\u00a0km\/h were reported. Thanks to the powerful muscles of their blowholes, whales can fill their lungs in a single second and can thus continue to breath in storms and waves. On September 24, in\u00a0Perc\u00e9<\/b>, the wind finally calmed down and the sea regained its bluish tint. A tall spout erupts from the water about 3 nautical miles north-northeast of the gannet colony. In\u00a0Gasp\u00e9\u00a0<\/b>Bay<\/b>, about half of the cruises scheduled were cancelled on account of strong winds. Nevertheless, minke whales were observed surface feeding in the past few days, not to mention two humpbacks, two fin whales, a blue whale, and fifty or so harbour porpoises. On Sunday, a hundred or so white-sided dolphins made a noteworthy appearance.<\/span><\/p>\n

In\u00a0Baie-Comeau<\/b>, a minke whale attracts the attention of residents on September 23. Another minke whale and a small group of humpbacks were seen feeding off the coast of\u00a0Franquelin<\/b>. One observer exclaims \u201cLarge spouts are more often seen farther offshore.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On September 25, the\u00a0Mingan Island\u00a0<\/b>Cetacean Study<\/a>\u00a0team witnesses spectacular scenes of a group of about 20 minke whales surface feeding.<\/span><\/p>\n