Whale Watching–Pleasant Bay, Nova Scotia

It seems like no trip to Nova Scotia could be complete without a whale watching tour. So, we donned these wonderful waterproof ‘warm suits’ and boarded a small, fast moving Zodiac boat, and headed out with our boat Captain and guide Gil (an Acadian from Cheticamp).  By the way, the insulated suits did a fantastic job of keeping us warm. The air temp was around 54 degrees and we did not get the least bit chilled.     : )

We left from Pleasant Bay, a picturesque Harbor town where the whales are know to ‘hang out.’

We learned that Nova Scotia is the summer home for a number of species of whales. Like we found in Alaska, the whales come to the nutrient rich colder waters off Nova Scotia to feed during the summer before heading to the warmer Caribbean waters to have their young.

We had just started out in the boat when we found ourselves in the middle of a group of white sided dolphins. There were around 100 dolphins swimming and playing all around us. Please excuse my attempts at photography…….I have decided that whale watching is an almost impossible activity to photograph……dolphins and whales and other sea creatures just move way too fast!

As we moved on, we spotted a pod (that’s whale talk for ‘group’) of Pilot Whales. The Pilot whales are a relatively small whale that lives in the waters of the north Atlantic all year round.

Next, a Minke Whale caught Capt. Gil’s eye. This Minke was ‘breaching’, jumping our of the water, over and over again…..a rare performance for them! It was amazing! But, again, so fast that all we could get a picture of was the splash……

Finally, we spotted several Fin Whales. These whales are larger than the Humpback, and come to these waters in the spring and summer.

The Fin Whales were close enough to our boat that it felt like you could reach out and touch them…….

On the ride back to port, we were able to get a few pictures of the beautiful Cape Breton coastline.

It was an exhilarating experience……..one feels so in awe of the amazing creatures which are all around….. and under us in the sea.