We set up our base of operations at La Manche Provincial Park south of St. John's. From here we planned several excursions; Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, Cape Spear, Signal Hill and the Irish loop.

Our first trip started by boarding the tour boat at Bull Bay for a tour of the Witless Bay Ecological reserve looking for alcids, including Atlantic Puffin, Black-legged Kittiwake and Humpback Whales. The trip on this blustery and wavy day was amazing thanks to brilliant blue skies and lots of birds. Photography on a vessel which was jumping up and down in the waves was a challenge. One tries to get the best vantage yet avoid the flying salt spray. The many photographs are shown in several blog posts; 1)Humpback Whales, 2)Alcid flight swarms, 3)Alcids nesting, 4)Alcids swimming and diving and the crowd favourite, 5)Atlantic Puffin

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Humpback Whales

The whale photographs were taken at an effective focal length of 630mm at a distance of about 500 metres,  hand held of course.

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The most amazing photos were of a Humpback Whale coursing the shoreline very closely, possibly to corral fish or to remove surface parasites.  Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale Humpback Whale

After the shoreline experience the whale proceeded off shore.  Humpback Whale Humpback Whale