Linda and Regis travel...
Enjoying the gifts of the day with two dogs
Pilot Whales
I went out on another whale tour out of Bay St. Lawrence. I went on a boat named Oshan. I thought it was another way to spell Ocean but it is a Gaelic term meaning “standing tall or above”. It is operated by a family that has lived in the area for over 5 generations.
The tour was incredible. I can’t begin to describe what the northern tip of Cape Breton Island looks like, especially from the water. It is stunning. The captain started the tour by giving the usual safety guidelines like how to put on a life preserver. He demonstrated putting it on, said tie it the best you can, and then said the next step was to pray. He told us it was the only life preserver on the boat and he would throw it in the middle of the boat and probably the quickest, strongest person would wind up with the preserver when needed. After that he told us there were enough life preservers to probably float the boat.
Okay, this captain was hilarious but he was also quiet. Here’s my thinking. This is a guy who was a fisherman most of his life (a life that doesn’t require interacting with people) and then turned to whale watching tours. With fewer fish and more tourists available, it’s probably a good choice. But, this is a quiet, introverted fisherman who has turned into a whale tour guide. He spoke very little and once we got out to “sea” he said “okay you can start looking for whales”. He turned out to be a great captain and we saw lots of pilot whales, grey seals, seabirds, and great coastline.
The pilot whales were a blast. There were many whales swimming together and coming up for air at the same time. It was like watching a group of dolphins except they are bigger than dolphins. It was an amazing experience for me. I hit the jackpot on this trip. This tour would have been amazing even without the incredible pilot whale encounter.
Linda and Regis travel... 