31 May 2007, vol. 11 no21
Tryphon is back, but what exactly is he doing here?
Tryphon, the first sperm whale to be spotted in the Estuary, in 1991, has been seen eight times since, both early and late in the season. At around 8:00 a.m. a GREMM researcher spotted him as he was diving off Les Bergeronnes only to appear 40 minutes later off Les Escoumins. From aboard Le Bleuvet, the GREMM research team managed to positively identify him. Two hours earlier an observer from Les Bergeronnes had seen him dive and reappear 45 minutes later near the airstrip. This whale was named after Professor Tryphon Tournesol (French for sunflower) from the well-known comic strip Tintin. Tryphon, the whale, has two notches on the trailing edge of his tail in the shape of sunflower seeds.
Sperm whales are usually found far offshore near abyssal depths. So, what is Tryphon doing here? He is believed to be a male searching for food in an area of minimal competition. Males of this species tend to swim the colder waters of the higher latitudes, while females live in the warmer, southern waters.
Rorqual whales have arrived on the North Shore!
On the North Shore, be they minke, fin or blue, everyone's talking about the rorqual whales, not to mention the beluga whales and the seals. A fin whale with a calf and a group of around 20 harp seals have been reported near Cape Granite. Large numbers of brants, razorbills and terns can be found offshore. Meanwhile, near Les Bergeronnes, a female eider duck was seen with its four chicks, escorted by two other females and a dozen males who were making quite a ruckus. Two humpback whales were seen near Baie-Comeau shoreline and around 15 beluga whales were spotted off Pointe-des-Monts.
Whale watching is difficult in the Sept-Îles area due to strong southwest winds. Yet, two minke whales were observed near the marina wharf and capelin is rolling on the shore at Brochu.
The food chain is in action on the South Shore as well
Observed from shore at Gaspé: harbour seal colonies where young can be seen—pupping began in mid-May— along with a dozen scattered minke whales. Seven or eight unidentified large blows have been noted in Gaspé Bay.
South of Percé two minke whales were seen surface feeding, while the profusion of krill has made for poor visibility for divers and capelin rolling on the shore has not gone unnoticed by the plentiful gannets that are filling up on them. At Sainte-Thérèse-de-Gaspé fishermen have reported minke whales swimming through the shallows near lobster traps. Humpback and fin whales are easy to spot while the identities of the blows further offshore remain mysterious.