On this Thanksgiving Monday afternoon, a group of kayakers is quietly paddling toward the dock at L’Anse-de-Roche<\/b> when they hear a loud splash behind them. The guide turns around to see the long, tapered body of a harbour seal soar into the air. Three times in a row! \u201cFor several weeks now we sometimes see a seal\u2019s head poking out of the water, but never before had I seen a seal breach\u201d, he says in astonishment. In fact, seals occasionally adopt a swimming technique similar to that of porpoises to move faster while spending less energy. The undulating movements and small leaps above the surface are believed to help reduce friction between the animal\u2019s body and the water.<\/p>\nAutumn dolphins and porpoises<\/b><\/h2>\n
Leaping out of the water is precisely the specialty of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, which are bringing a touch of colour to the region this season. On Saturday, Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS) collaborator Ren\u00e9 Roy, crosses paths with an endless horizon of white-sided dolphins between Matane<\/b> and Pointe-des-Monts<\/b>. \u201cThere were hundreds of them, maybe even thousands,\u201d he claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On this Thanksgiving Monday afternoon, a group of kayakers is quietly paddling toward the dock at L’Anse-de-Roche when they hear a loud splash behind them. The guide turns around to see the long, tapered body of a harbour seal soar into the air. Three times in a row! \u201cFor several weeks now we sometimes see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":55737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-observation-of-the-week"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n