Whale watching is always on my travel wish list. Viewing these incredible creatures in their natural environment is simply magical. So I jumped at the opportunity to travel to Tiverton Nova Scotia with my sister for a whale watching adventure. We were not disappointed—we saw 4 humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and they weren’t just tiny specks on the horizon—one was nearly close enough to touch! Here’s the scoop.
Tiverton is on Long Island, one of the Digby Islands, located at the base of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.
It’s a pretty little fishing village.
We booked a whale watching tour with Ocean Explorations Zodiac Whale Cruises. We chose this tour because of Tom Goodwin. Tom is a biologist who has spent his entire 40+ year career studying, guiding and working around whales. He is a native Newfoundlander but has been conducting whale/seabird tours from Nova Scotia for 35 years. He is a founding year (1975) member of the Cousteau Society, has worked with the Calpyso crew, and has been supporting the World Wildlife Fund for 40+ years. On the wall in the Ocean Explorations office, there is a faded 1982 photo of Tom meeting Jacques Yves Cousteau, the world-famous ocean explorer. Tom’s tours are conducted in Zodiac™ boats (ie rigid hull inflatable boats) meaning we would be viewing whales at water-level.
Ocean Explorations’ guests are outfitted in survival suits for safety and comfort.
After getting suited up in our orange finery, we climbed aboard the Zodiac and set off at a fast clip. The fog was so thick it was nearly impossible to see beyond the boat.
Then, like a miracle, the fog cleared and we were sitting on calm waters in bright sunshine. We waited patiently, along with the lobster fishing boat tour shown below, for the whales which had been spotted in the area.
And then they came! A humpback whale surfaced off in the distance!
And then the most amazing things happened! More than one humpback whale surfaced including a mother and calf.
We saw whales spouting, aka blowing, which happens when a whale exhales air as it comes to the surface to breathe. I was fascinated to learn that you can hear the humpback whale spouting as far as 800 feet away.
We saw whales lifting their tails out of the water. Our guide Tom referred to this action as “tail rolls” and explained the whales do this before diving. A whale raises its tail, or more accurately a “cetacean raises its fluke”, to descend steeply beneath the surface instead of descending progressively.
Humpback whales, like the ones we saw, “fluke-up” meaning the tail is brought high in the air clearly showing the undersides.
Then the whales came over to watch us—or so it seemed! Here’s a photo showing just how close the whales came to our boat.
The whale calf seemed the most curious. It swam right along the side of the boat. The next photo shows the whale’s head or “rostrum”. The small bumps that are visible on the humpback whales rostrum are called “tubercles”. According to NOAA (USA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), “Each tupercle has one hair that grows out of it. No one knows exactly why humpbacks have tubercles, but it is thought that they function in some sensory perception.”
Here’s an illustration used by NOAA to explain the anatomy of a humpback whale. You can’t really see the entire whale when it’s in the water so a visual aid is helpful.
The whale calf swam around and under the boat. At one point, it did an amazing backflip. The next photo shows the whale’s underside. The clearly-visible vertical lines are called “ventral pleats”. NOAA explains, “The pleats on a humpback whale run from the chin all the way to the umbilicus (belly-button). Humpback whales are one of six species belonging to the Balaenopteridae family, or rorqual family. All rorquals have ventral pleats on the underside of their throat that allow them to expand their throat greatly while feeding.” Incredibly, an average-sized humpback whale can hold about 5,000 gallons of water in its mouth. That’s about the same amount of water needed to fill a 12-foot x 10-foot x 7-foot swimming pool.
We also witnessed lots of flippering or flipper slapping. NOAA says “Humpback whales are the most famous flipper slapper, as they possess the longest flippers of all cetaceans (around 1/3 of their body size). … A cetacean at the surface rolls onto its side, raises a flipper out of the water, and then hits the surface with it. The whale may do it once or several times in a row.” Check out this flipper action!
A little online research reveals a wealth of fascinating facts about humpback whales. Here are a few other examples.
. Humpback whales are huge! According to iNaturalist, “Adult humpback whales are 11 to 16 m (36-52 ft) long. … Weights of at least 35 t (38.5 short tons) are attained by adults.” Some references suggest that if humpback whales lived on land, they would be crushed under their own weight. A newborn humpback whale calf is 4.5 to 5 m (14.7-16.4ft) in length and weighs about 1.5 tons. The calf consumes up to 52 gallons of milk per day.
. Humpback whales migrate between feeding grounds in polar waters and breeding grounds in tropical waters. Our guide Tom indicated the humpback whales we saw in the Bay of Fundy would likely migrate down to the Caribbean. The whales mate, calve and nurse in the tropics.
. Humpback whales stay in the feeding grounds for only about 120 days. During this time they need an astonishing amount of krill and small fish—about 1.5 tons every day. They gain about 12 pounds per hour during their twice daily feedings. During the remaining 245 days of the year, the humpback whale lives off its fat reserves.
After some time, the humpback whales we were watching decided it was time to move on. For their final bow, they delighted us by breaching. NOAA explains “The whale leaps out of the water head first. Usually, whales and dolphins roll in the air so that they land on their side when they hit the water, creating a lot of noise and a big splash.” I was astonished to learn that the power required for a humpback whale to breach is equivalent to the power needed for a 747 aircraft to liftoff. Incredible!
NOAA continues, “Researchers generally use the word breaching when at least 40% of the animal body clears the water. Despite its important energetic cost, breaching is often carried out in series. It is not clear for scientists why cetaceans are breaching. A breach might be a sign that the animal is physically fit enough to afford energy for this acrobatic display, hence it could be used for ascertaining dominance, courting or warning. Also, as the noise produced is extremely loud, this behavior might be a way of communicating over very long distances with other individuals. Another widely accepted reason is to dislodge parasites. The cetacean will fall onto its side which will bring down a layer of skin along with the attached parasites. The behavior may also be more simply a form of play or an exuberant display of joy.”
Shockingly, about 50 years ago, humpback whales were hunted to the brink of extinction. Global populations had declined by more than 90% before the International Whaling Commission enacted a worldwide moratorium on hunting in 1982. But the good news is, according to NatureServe an organization focused on halting the decline of biodiversity by providing accurate, current scientific information, the global status of the humpback whale is “Apparently Secure”. They report “Large worldwide range extends throughout all oceans; depleted by past overharvesting; population size now exceeds 60,000 and has increased over the past several decades; vulnerable to marine pollution, disturbance by boat traffic, and entanglement in fishing gear, but these are not major threats, and the species is now apparently secure.”
I’ll wrap up this week’s post with a quote from the legendary Jacques Yves Cousteau “Learning science, learning about nature, is more than the mere right of taxpayers; it is more than the mere responsibility of voters. It is the privilege of the human being.” from The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus: Exploring and Conserving Our Natural World (2007).
More Info
To learn more about Tiverton, Nova Scotia, Canada and why the broader Bay of Fundy area is called “Canada’s Natural Wonder”, check out the Bay of Fundy Tourism website. You may also enjoy the FanningSparks’ blog post We Dined on the Ocean Floor.
Check out the Ocean Explorations Zodiac Whale Adventures website for information about Tom Goodwin and his fantastic whale watching tours.
For lots of educational resources about the Humpback Whale, check out the USA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Sea Earth Atmosphere (SEA) program and NOAA SEA website.
I’m a huge fan of iNaturalist and their Seek app. See the iNaturalist website for identification tools and reference information about wildlife.
NatureServe “is a U.S. – based nonprofit organization made up of passionate biodiversity scientists who want to apply the best information to decision-making. … As rapid changes threaten our planet and all life that depends on it, someone must keep their finger on the pulse of the planet and its plants and animals whose future depends on conservation action. NatureServe and our Network fill this role. Together, we are on the front lines of halting the decline of biodiversity.”
Today’s Takeaways
1. Watching whales in their natural environment is magical.
2. Take the time to select a tour guide with the knowledge, expertise and values that are important to you.
3. “Learning science, learning about nature … is the privilege of the human being.” Jacques Yves Cousteau
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