{"id":49628,"date":"2018-08-02T19:43:51","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T19:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/ces-petits-pleins-de-vie\/"},"modified":"2020-03-11T18:07:52","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T18:07:52","slug":"little-bundles-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/little-bundles-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Bundles of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

They’re about one-third the size of an adult and still stick close to their mothers’ sides. Calves of several species have been seen along the shores of the St. Lawrence almost everywhere in recent days.<\/p>\n

On a calm sea at long last free from a thick blanket of fog, a naturalist and her passengers had the privilege of observing small groups of harbour porpoises \u2013 including females with their calves \u2013 off the coast of Perc\u00e9<\/strong>. The same day, just off \u00cele Plate, a fin whale mother and her young are also seen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Between Tadoussac<\/strong>, Les Bergeronnes<\/strong> and Les Escoumins<\/strong>, the fin whale Trou<\/a> and her calf swim side by side. They have been observed here since early July. A juvenile humpback \u2013 evidently weaned given that it arrived alone \u2013 made a remarkable entrance into the Estuary. The female humpback Tic Tac Toe<\/a> examines the animal. “I would have liked to see what was going on under the water! There was quite a bit of interaction,” points out a GREMM research assistant who was present on the water at the time. Finally, the two humpbacks departed, swimming away in sync with one another.<\/p>\n

Newborn belugas have also been observed in the Saguenay<\/strong> and in the St. Lawrence Estuary. When they are born, belugas measure nearly half the length of their mothers (and already longer than yours truly is tall). During their first year of life, belugas are caf\u00e9 au lait in colour, after which they turn greyish-blue, which explains the nickname given to them by French speakers: bleuvet<\/em>. Young belugas stay with their mothers for 20 to 30 months before they are able to live independently.<\/p>\n

Farther down the Estuary, off the coast of Matane, a blue whale calf is seen with its mother, B522. This is the fourth mother-calf pair<\/a> observed this season for this species. If researchers from the Mingan Island Cetacean Study were incredulous when they received the photos, it’s because no blue whale calf had been observed in these waters since… 2008!<\/p>\n

In Gasp\u00e9 Bay<\/strong>, a white-sided dolphin hurls itself completely out of the water while the rest of the herd swims alongside. In this species, newborns already measure half the length of adults. Off Cap-des-Rosiers<\/strong>, two right whales and one blue whale are observed.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the river, approximately 12 nautical miles south of Sept-\u00celes’<\/strong> Marconi Peninsula, 10 humpback whales are seen on Sunday. Among them is the calf of Tracks<\/a>, who can be recognized by its zipper-shaped scar. This calf had been observed earlier in the season on the Gasp\u00e9 side of the river.<\/p>\n

Shark!<\/h2>\n

In Port-Cartier<\/strong>, a recreational boater out for a day of fishing observes a porpoise and a minke whale in the distance when a triangular black shape emerges from the water surface: it’s a basking shark! She observes it from a distance before it disappears.<\/p>\n

Another shark of this species plies the waters beyond Perc\u00e9 Rock<\/strong> and around the docks of Bonaventure Island<\/strong>.<\/p>\n