Trip Report: Fundy Isles Archipelago

This week a some Bay of Fundy Adventures crew ventured out into the Fundy Isles Archipelago to explore New Brunswick’s landscape by sea.

It’s whale season in the Isles and we went out in search of these giants. We loaded our kayaks for an early morning start into the Bay of Fundy. Travelling east along the coast into the wind and waves and eventually farther out into the Bay, we kept our eyes peeled and our ears open for any signs of whales. The sound of their breath as it fires from a blowhole, a tail waving us by, or even a playful leap out of the water. After turning west towards the cluster of islands, we surfed waves and hid in the eddies of ocean buoys, while watching lobster boats travel by. Then one of our crew called to us from a distance, a humpback had breached! Close enough that he could see the whole body out of the water before landing in a giant splash. We headed that way, hoping to catch another show.

More waves, more beautiful scenery, and more paddling before we landed on Bliss Island to have a break and visit its lighthouse. Most of us had been here before, but it’s an invariable rite of passage for any of our guides visiting the island for the first time. A quick stop at the top of the lighthouse before moving on again, zigzagging our way through old fishing weirs and hand railing the island until hopping to a smaller one and through some ledges. This route brought us through grey seal territory. Through the light fog, we could hear their barks and howls well before we could see them. Was it mating season or could they smell us as we paddled forward? Massive bodies hopped and slid off the island and into the water as we approached, while heads the size of a horse’s poked out above the surface to survey our movements. The largest of the seals moved far ahead of his pack, splashing right behind our boats, urging us to move along.

As we moved across a channel towards our landing spot, a tall plume of mist shot into the air. A finback whale had revealed itself. These 75-foot-long mammals are the second-largest animal in the world and exactly what we were looking for. We were scanning the horizon looking for its next move, when a minke whale, the 28 foot cousin of the Finback, surfaced right in front of us. We sat perfectly still as we watched it make our way right towards us. Taking its breaths, we expected it to pass right between us, but it dove under our kayaks and came up again behind us on its way out to sea.

We landed back on the main land, extremely happy with how the day unfolded. The 15 kilometres of sea kayaking delivered on multiple whale sightings and much more.

We are already ready looking to return and bring along other adventurers with us!

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