Wow what a great day this was. Sunny (a bit hot but I am not complaining!) and a very successful whale watching on the Bay of Fundy. When we started planning this trip last year, I saw this piece of land coming down from Digby into the Bay of Fundy and so started googling what it is – the Digby Neck and Islands! There are a couple islands at the end of it and Brier Island is the place to go for whale watching. You need to book early! I called about 6 to 8 weeks earlier and they had one boat going at 12:30 p.m. and it was full. They started us on a 4:30 p.m. boat and said if they get more people they possibly would add this tour. Last week they updated me that it was taking them longer to find the whales so the 4:30 tour would probably not happen. But then the day before they said – it is on!! and honestly the captain and the crew were very excited on our tour as well as we saw so much!!!
To get to Brier Island you have to take 2 ferries to get there, and they are both just minutes to get across. The first one goes to Long Island and the famous balancing rock is on this one. It was a 2.5 km hike (235 stairs) to go and see it on the coast. Wow that was cool!
“Called “Nature’s Time Post”, the Balancing Rock is a narrow vertical column of basalt, balanced on its tip; the most-photographed of Tiverton’s Long Island’s striking basalt formations.”
On our trip, I have been amazed at how many different coasts we have seen – from rock, to sand dunes, to sea caves, to rock beaches, to cliffs, and now to basalt formed rocks. I had to look up what basalt is and how is it formed? “Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock made from the rapid cooling of lava at Earth’s surface. Magma rises onto Earth’s surface becoming lava and then lava solidifies to form basalt rocks”. It is amazing how this approx. 20 tonned massive volcanic rock column is just balancing on the edge of the rock below. It was so worth the hike out to see this!!
We then carry on to get to the second ferry that takes us to Brier Island. This small island is home to whales, seabirds, flora, fauna, shipwrecks, lighthouses, hiking trails and about 200 people.
On Briar Island there are 3 light houses. We drove to 2 of them and the 3rd we get to see when we go out whale watching. Nova Scotia has the most light houses out of every other province in Canada, and not surprising since they also have the most coastal land. If you are interested in visiting every light house they have tour info of where to find them all. Some you can even go in (as we did in Hampton earlier this week).
We could drive right up to this one and it was a great place to stop and have a bite to eat! Bart and I brought a nice bottle of Rose Eh? wine from the Bear River Vineyards winery we visited yesterday in Bear River, but forgot to bring a cork screw. Bob’s Mom to the rescue – she had given him a nice knife/multi-tool and he had it in his truck! Cheers to that!!!
As Bart was out wandering around at one of the lighthouses (I am not sure which one as they all started to get mixed up in my brain as we saw so many) he found this massive school of fish swimming just below. It was so cool watching them and their formations they would make. I was hoping that a whale or shark would come by and open up and take a swallow!!
4:30 is sail off time for whale watching. Weather-wise it was a perfect day to be out on the water. It was sunny, warm, and the water was calm. We were wondering what those round cage looking things in the water were. Do you know?
They are for salmon farming. Kelly Cove Salmon own I think up to 14 salmon farms in the East Coast area. It works well here as the tide coming in and out, keeps the water flowing rather than being stagnant.
We were not that far out before we started seeing sea life. This above is a basking shark. The captain said he has not seen one of these for quite some years, so he and the crew were very excited too. He said they don’t have teeth and they are harmless to humans. They are the largest shark in the world, and he said this one looks to be about 30 feet. Often he said they will hit a boat as they are kind of dozy. We got to see it right up close to the boat with it’s big white mouth open (just like jaws!) and actually he went right underneath our boat. So cool!!
We saw so many humpback whales. This one gave us quite the show! He was on his back and flapping his fins again and again, and then he started with his tail. He must have gone on for about 20 minutes. The crew told us he is probably getting all the little sea lice (that like to feed on their skin) off, or trying to get barnacles off (as they often secure themselves to the whales).
Check out a few of my videos I was able to capture.
Whale moving with the sun on him
Whale showing off for us
Two whales swimming along
We had gone before to see whales off Cape Breton island and it was also a great day but we only saw a few small pilot whales. When I researched the Digby Neck I found out that this is the place to go – the Bay of Fundy has some of the best whale watching. This was a huge highlight of the trip for me.
I came prepared with many hats and this day it came in handy – on the way back in around 8 p.m. it was getting a bit chilly and I was happy to have my toque. My face got both sunburned and wind burned – I guess I should have wore some sunscreen!
We saw most of these whales from the boat. We also saw a blue whale, again the crew was very excited as these sightings are much fewer, and this was the first this season. Mariner Whale Cruises captain and crew were great. If you are looking to whale watching, they would be an excellent choice!
Yep – another fabulous day in the East Coast!!
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