#11: The First Right Whales We've Seen!

Early in the morning on August 23, we left the dock for the first time in days and headed across the Grand Manan channel. A wall of fog greeted us as we entered the Bay of Fundy, and we stopped to listen for whale blows. While we were drifting around, a seagull landed on the bow of the Nereid and amused us for a bit (to be fair, birds hardly ever land on the Nereid). We joked that this interaction would be the highlight of the day.

Relieved this isn't the only photo we have for this post... Photo: Philip Hamilton

Fortunately, something much more exciting would happen. After hours of a back and forth battle with fog and even rain, we finally found two right whales together- the first right whales that our team has seen in the Bay of Fundy! 

Catalog #2615, "Reef." Photo: Philip Hamilton

The whales were not easy to work, and the higher sea state did not help, but we obtained the photos we needed to identify the individuals! Catalog #2615 is a male named "Reef," born in 1996. Catalog #3651 is also a male, born in 2006.

Catalog #3651 at the surface, with #2615's fluke poking out of the water. Photo: Philip Hamilton

The rest of the survey didn't turn up any other right whales, but we were happy to have seen two of them- much, much better than a seagull!

Catalog #2615 goes down on a dive. Photo: Samantha Emmert

-Marianna