Over the next two days, morning whale watching boat trips have been arranged with a local specialist operator into the protected waters of Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. Typically, the trips are scheduled to last two hours, with experienced guides identifying species and interpreting behaviour. The remainder of each day is then free to enjoy St John's and/or the surrounding spectacular coastal scenery, using your hire car.
You can see whales off the Newfoundland coastline all year round, but sightings are most common, and therefore peak season is generally considered to be between mid-June to mid-August. Sightings are still possible outside these times, but are less consistent. In addition to cetacean viewing, this stretch of coast is known as Iceberg Alley, and it's possible to view goliath bergs drifting south from May to mid/late June.
Cetaceans of Newfoundland
Celebrate the whale watchers whale, the humpback, easily recognised by its balloon-shaped blow and its showy behaviour. Waving their long, white pectoral fins in the air, these can measure as much as one-third of their body length.
Distinguish fin whales, the second largest in the world, by their straight high blow, the shape of an ice-cream cone. Their long, streamlined black back emerges before its long curved dorsal fin appears above the surface. Its underside is contrasting white, and its side flippers are small and pointed.
Solitary minke whales, the smallest baleen whale, are a common sight in the bays off the coast, although their blow is low and often barely noticeable. Minkes are black on top, white underneath, and their small pectoral fins have a distinctive white patch.
Unmistakeable, is the tall pointed dorsal fin of orca, or the killer whale, which in males can be up to two metres long. Behind the eye, you will see a white spot that stands out against the glossy black body. They have been observed eating humpbacks on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.
Harbour porpoises are the smallest of the whale family, called 'puffin pigs' in Newfoundland because of the grunt they make while breathing. The rounded head has no beak, the skin is dark grey on the back, and speckled white underneath. Small black flippers are always located on the white portion of the body, and the strong triangular dorsal fin is sited right in the middle of the back.
In addition, keep an eye out for white-sided and white-beaked dolphins, often associating with a variety of seabirds during feeding frenzies.