We arrived at the dock about half an hour later and wandered around while we waited, taking pictures. There was a collection of whale bones and driftwood behind one building and a mermaid guarded the shore, beckoning the happy travellers home.
Occasionally, the sun would find a break in the clouds and shine through and give us some hope, but sadly, the sky would cover over again, and it never did come out completely during our trip.
Once all our group was together and ready, we donned our lifejackets and climbed carefully into a smaller boat for our personalized tour with co-founder Joe O‘Brien. The normal O’Brien’s boats will hold 46 to 83 passengers, but our boat held the eight in our group quite comfortably. I made my way to the front, and settled myself right in the prow with my camera hanging from my neck, ready to shoot whatever we might see.
As we headed out of the harbour, the gentle rocking of the boat became more pronounced as we got into the ocean swells. For a while, it was like riding a roller coaster as our boat skipped over the waves. Although I grew up within sight of the water most of my life, it’s only the last few years that I’ve been able to go out on these boats, and I love it. Every time the boat would come down the side of a swell and bounce in preparation for the next one, I would laugh in delight, despite grabbing the rail just a little bit tighter. As we got further out and the wind got stronger and the air colder in the fog, however, we were very glad we had remembered to don our heavier jackets and sweaters before we left the dock. The north atlantic is a beautiful place, but the temperature can drop quite significantly on the open water, so if you’re going, be sure to dress accordingly.
We headed out along the shore, going approximately north, and explored some of the little coves and bays along the way. It was, unfortunately, difficult to get pictures due to the rocking of the boat, but I do have some products featuring the cliffs and the caves along the route, including one of a waterfall over the gaping mouth of a cave, which was an amazing sight. The colours of the water were breathtaking. The fog stayed just drifting along the top of the cliffs, which allowed us to have good visibility, thankfully, but gave a misty and grey background to many of the photos.
We also saw the Spout, an interesting phenomenon whereby a freshwater geyser shoots 20m up from the rocks with the pressure of the waves and looks very much like a whale’s spout - high above the water on the cliffs above. This area is visible on many of the boat tours in the area, and can also be visited by a hike along the East Coast Trail.
Having explored along the coastline for a while, we headed back to more open waters, where we could see the gulls hovering in a particular area. I learned that a collection of gulls generally means that there are fish in that area - in particular, the capelin that roll along our shores this time every year. And where there are capelin, there are likely to be whales enjoying the feast with the birds. You could also see the occasional puffin or tern fly by as well, enjoying the bounty.
Sure enough, soon after we got to the area, the first “real” spout was heard, and we all turned to see that dark fin of the humpback whale move through the water next to the boat. There were a number of whales in the area that day, and they were quite happily feeding close to the boat. One gave us a great wave of his tail, as he dove a little deeper into the water, but unfortunately, the boat chose to rock in the opposite direction at the same time, and I got great pictures of the sky instead. Sadly, this was the best shot of it that I found on the camera afterwards.
However, one whale did get particularly close to the boat, and I was able to get a couple of good pictures of it. This one, I made into a souvenir magnet, and will later add to a number of other products as well.
Eventually, we decided to leave the whales to their dinner, and we turned back to head towards shore. Our tour guide, Joe O’Brien, was wonderful and most definitely went over and above to please the customer. If you ever have a chance to do one of these tours, I highly recommend it. There’s nothing like the smell of the salt water, the wind blowing through your hair, and the spray of a whale’s spout drifting over your head as you watch the majestic creatures glide through the water. If you’re really lucky, you may even catch them in a playful mood when they’ll even put on a show for the tourists. You wonder sometimes, who’s watching who, as you watch them come up again and again around the boat. You leave with a profound feeling of peace and joy as you realize you’ve just been given a special and rare glimpse into the wonders of nature.
Patricia
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