This is Part Three of a series of posts about surveys taking place in the Baie de Chaleur in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Click on the links to read Part One and Part Two!

With three full days of survey in excellent conditions and no right whales to be seen we were rejuvenated by a report from our colleagues in the air.  An aerial survey had found a group of approximately 15 right whales about 40 miles offshore of Miscou Island, New Brunswick.  Miscou marks the separation of Baie des Chaleur with the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In order to travel to the reported location in the R/V Callisto we needed a day of preparation.  The sighting was far from our wharf (about 80 miles) and we quickly realized that moving the Callisto and launching from Lameque Island  (via Miscou Harbor) made more sense. However, the drive would take over two hours on dark, secondary roads well before sunrise if we wanted to be on the water at first light.  We had been warned many times from the locals about the real threat of moose on the road and car accidents. We took advantage of a windy day on land and packed our food cooler, equipment and the boat and drove to Caraquet (about halfway between Janeville and Miscou Harbor).

With our rented life raft in place we were ready to head offshore. Photo: Monica Zani

Alex and Brigid navigate the narrow, sandy cut between Miscou Island and Lameque Island called Fox Den Gully. Photo: Monica Zani

In Caraquet we rented a life raft  and booked a hotel room for the night.  Our morning offshore would begin very early as we planned on leaving the hotel around 5:00 am to continue our drive to Miscou Harbor.

Two fin whales swim in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Photo: Monica Zani

 The weather proved amazing for our trip offshore and spirits were high that we would be able to find the small aggregation that had been sighted just three days prior by the aerial survey.  However, after a full day of survey we only logged fin whales, minkes and a few sightings of tuna.  Feeling disappointed at what we thought was a sure thing we headed back to shore discouraged but thankful for the gorgeous weather and sighting conditions.

The entrance to Miscou Harbor via Fox Den Gully is narrow but extremely well marked. Photo: Monica Zani

-Monica

Keep reading! Click here to read Part Four!.

After two full survey days, it was nice to have Saturday to catch up on office work and have a team meeting. Everyone went to bed pretty early because the weather for the next few days was looking great, and we needed to be well-rested and ready for it.



























So, on Sunday we pushed off the dock at 6:45 AM and ventured out into the Bay of Fundy. We've been noticing how few harbor porpoise we've been seeing- nothing to be be alarmed about, but usually our journey across the Grand Manan Channel yields a significant number of these little guys. After a few quiet survey hours, we started seeing right whale blows around 10 AM. Monica was our whale watcher for the day, working to identify individuals and communicate to the photographers and person at the helm. Some of the whales had not been seen on our prior surveys, and most of the whales were behaving pretty chill- not associating with each other, and briefly logging at the surface before going on 10 minute dives. However, the whales were scattered and it was not too easy to follow individuals.


























At one point in the day, Dropcloth (Catalog #1271) was seen. Dropcloth is a male who was first seen in 1978, but we don't know how old he is. He still needs to be biopsy darted for genetics, and although we tried to obtain a sample, we were not able to. Hopefully next time! We were, however, able to collect our second poop sample for the season. We were able to smell it before finding it, but got to scoop it up before it sank.


























Around 4:15 PM, we wrapped things up and put the cameras away, but not before having photographed approximately 40 right whales! As we were surveying back through the Basin, very obvious fin whale blows were seen in the distance. We estimated eight fin whales traveling together, stampeding through the water. It was a fantastic sight, and we spent a short time with them before continuing back home. Check out the video below for a little taste:



Our attempts to survey far east on Monday with "light winds" were foiled by strong winds- after two hours on survey, we decided to turn around and head back home. Arriving back in Lubec, we had a meeting about our upcoming offshore voyage to Roseway Basin. On Friday, a team of six will head out for a two week long survey, so there is much to do before our departure!

- Marianna

On Tuesday, the team headed out for another survey, but made a pit stop near Grand Manan to pick up some special guests- a film crew from France! This film crew is from One Planet, a production company that creates films "dedicated to science, society, nature and the environment." They are currently working on a series of documentaries that focuses on unique ecosystems around the world, and are in the area to cross the Bay of Fundy off their list!



The Nereid pulled aside their chartered vessel Midnight Adventure and we helped an interviewer, Noelie, and a cameraman, Yannick, aboard. They were eager to collect footage of any large whales, since the Bay is home to many species, but were especially hopeful that we might find right whales. We saw fin whales right off the bat and were able to get some close looks at them before heading out on our tracklines around the western side of the Bay.



About two hours into our survey, we sighted a group of four humpback whales, including a mother and calf pair! The humpbacks were fluking at regular intervals, so we were able to estimate when and where they would surface, allowing us to get close enough to collect some great photos for a group that does humpback ID. As soon as Yannick stopped filming and we put the cameras away, the calf breached- isn't that the way it always goes?!



Continuing through a very productive deep basin known as "The Groove" we saw many fin and humpback whales- our total count for the day was 17 fins and 13 humpbacks! We also saw a fair amount of different species of seabirds, including our first puffins, phalaropes and northern fulmars of the season. However, no right whales were observed on our survey, and so the film crew shot some more scenes of fin whales. Though we didn't find our elusive species, hopefully the viewers of the One Planet show will learn something new about right whales through the interviews taken on the Nereid with Moe.

As we headed back in to Lubec, we discussed our survey strategy for the next day out. The absence of right whales in the middle and western side of the Bay heightened our interest of investigating a different part of the Bay: The East!

-Marianna