Camping With Whales

9-8-17 Friday

Rising with the sun, we wandered around the campground and found the perfect spot, then walked up to the office to sign up for two more nights. They wanted to see the van to insure we wouldn’t block anyone’s view, so we drove around to the office where the owner said we were good to go. She also mentioned that we picked a very popular site and should hurry back before someone else found it.

There is nothing between us and the ocean but some rocks. Not only can we see whales from the van, we are close enough to hear them!

The only downside is there is no power connection, but we will happily conserve electricity to have this view.

We are seeing Harbor Porpoise and Minke Whales!

The Northern Minke Whales are long with a small fin about 3/4 of the way back on their bodies. Some of the smallest baleen whales they “only” grow to thirty-two feet and weigh in at up to ten tons.

Herring Gulls harassed some Razorbills in hopes of snagging a fish.

Razorbills look similar to Puffins without the colorful beak.

Kayaks are one of the few boats allowed on the water in this section of the marine park. This kayaker was accompanied by a curious harbor porpoise.

You can bring your own kayak or rent one here. A long launch ramp allows water access irregardless of the tide level.

Further out in the river, tour boats and freighters are allowed. This boat is from Neptune Tours and features a glass enclosed viewing area.

Open boats would be chilly with today’s 54 degree temps, but tour operators provide foul weather gear.

Large ships pass by on their way to and from the Great Lakes.

Walking southwest along the rocky shoreline, we found the Bon-Desir lighthouse. It has been providing ships with a landmark since 1941.

The lighthouse is part of the Cap de Bon-Desir Interpretation and Discovery Center. The iconic red chairs confirmed the status as a Canadian National Park.

The grounds also contained a building dedicated to providing power and compressed air for this huge fog horn. Thankfully, we were visiting on a sunny day.

Wide trails, stairs, and observation decks provided access to an interpretive center with good views of the St. Lawrence. Rangers tracked the numbers of whales sighted on a white board. We appreciated that they were bi-lingual and didn’t mind taking a look at our camera to confirm that we have been photographing Minke Whales.

The tally stood at 7 Minke, 2 Humpback and infinity Harbor Porpoise.

The walk back along the rocks provided great views.

Ducks and kayakers passed by as evening crept in while we prepared dinner in the van.

After sunset, an almost full moon popped in and out of clouds. Listening to the waves and hearing whales taking breaths just offshore is something special. Apparently it was also calming, as Beth was asleep before nine!

9-9-17 Saturday
Peering out the window in the morning, we spied a dedicated couple sitting on the rocks in lawn chairs under an umbrella. We are lucky to be enjoying breakfast in the warm dry van. 81% electric left at 7:45 this morning.

After breakfast, it was just past high tide as indicated by seagulls perched on “whale rock,” our unofficial tide gauge. The tidal range is 14 ft here.

We’re learning the rhythm of the whales. They roll to the surface, breath, and slide back down four times before diving deep.

We have yet to see any tail flukes as they slide, almost effortlessly, through the water.

I’m amazed at how closely they approached the shore.

Looking at the charts, the water quickly drops to over 1,000 feet, so I guess they don’t have to worry about depth.

9-10-17 Sunday
Sunrise today showed a band of light across the south shore as a cloud bank cropped the scene into a panorama. Cool temperatures were evident as we could see the whales breath condensing in the chilly morning air.

With our batteries just about out of power, but still intrigued by the whales, we signed up for a couple more days a little farther from the water where we could plug-in.

Since we were already moving, we decided to go explore some of the area by road. We enjoyed a morning snack at Les Escoumins where the water had left the town with the tide.

Here’s the map section we used for exploring.

Just south of Les Escoumins is where ships must take on local pilots to navigate inland on the St. Lawrence. Here a pilot boat heads out to meet a freighter.

Drove around the tidy little Innuit village of Essipit where dream catchers adorned streetlights. We turned around at the ferry dock. If dentist appointments weren’t calling us home to NC, we had considered taking this ferry across and following the Gaspe Peninsula out to the Atlantic coast.

Another national park site was located there, the Marine Environment Discovery Centre. We ate a picnic lunch while watching a man don a dry suit to go diving. There were lots of Minke Whales there, where we even saw one breach.

Because the National Park centers are just open Friday-Sunday in the off-season, we headed South to Pointe-Noire in Baie-Sainte-Catherine. Route 128 has a ferry link, so we had two fun rides across the Saguenay Fjord.

Timing was perfect on our crossing as we snagged a front-row seat!

Ferries accommodate six lanes of vehicles including busses and semi-trucks. Our Sunday afternoon crossing was mostly pleasure vehicles. There is no fee to ride the ferry. With great views and seats on the top deck, I could see riding back and forth as a passenger for most of a day.

Here we were approaching the south terminal.

The weather was decidedly different from our crossing earlier in the week. Skies were blue and there was no sign of fog.

Point-Noire has very limited parking, but we lucked out and found a space that would accommodate the van. Picnic areas and several observation decks allowed good views.

The draw for this spot is a pod of Beluga Whales that reside here year-round. We didn’t see anything upon arrival, but within a few minutes a ranger pointed out whales approaching us from the Saguenay Fjord.

We learned that young Belugas are grey for the first three years of their lives. Here, two young whales accompany an adult.

Because the Belugas were quite a way offshore, we were happy to have the 500mm lens. These would have been “find the whale” pictures with anything shorter.

9-11-17 Monday

Started out with chairs and table perched on the rocks.

Spoiled by the last few calm days, we only lasted about an hour in the wind.

There are whales spouting further offshore today – maybe humpbacks. These spout 8 or 9 times before diving. Different from the Minkes we are seeing near shore which surface four times, don’t spout, then dive.

We moved over to the cafe and laundry building where we watched whales between while the machines do the work. Washers and dryers are only a dollar each. Two loonies does a load of clothes!

Benches provided a comfortable spot to sit and watch the water.

In addition to the Minke Whales, Harbor seals poped-up off the rocks with whiskered faces that look like curious dogs.

Beth talked with the family across from us. They are from France, traveling by bicycle. Planning to be out for a year, they have been to Spain, the east coast of the US and Canada and are headed from here to Toronto. After that, they may fly to California and head towards South America. Two of the three kids ride their own bikes while the youngest girl rides on a seat mounted on the front fork of mom’s bike.

Beth started our first campfire tonight. Hard to believe we haven’t had one before. Resorted to chocolate chips to make s’mores since we left the chocolate bars at home.

We are charged to 99%, and we saw that the three sisters in our “perfect” spot are leaving tomorrow, so Beth booked another night. Oh shucks, we can’t leave until at least Wednesday.

9-12-17 Tuesday

Note to self and others contemplating a visit to Quebec in September. Pack watch caps, a sleeping bag to use as a comforter, and slippers for the cool van floor.

Our morning’s entertainment was an attempt to bake muffins with disappointing outcome. The convection-microwave oven has a rotating turntable and our muffin pan was too big to rotate in the oven. After setting off the smoke detector, we quickly removed the muffins which alternated between being burnt and runny.

Didn’t get our favorite site. The three sisters decided to stay an extra day. Found 107 to be almost as good. Took our “loonie” showers before moving the van. For those that haven’t been to Canada, their one dollar coin has a loon on it and is affectionately referred to as a “loonie.”

Knowing we want to return, we decided to explore the rest of the campground. We walked another trail up to a high bluff where some folks played bocce and others sat on a bench looking out at the St Lawrence.

Followed a trail ending at the lighthouse we visited a few days ago passing over coastal rocks. We continued back to Camping Paradis Marin walking to all the campsites. We were the only license plate not from Quebec!

Paradis-marin campground is privately owned, part of a family farm. Workers at an old wooden barn were preparing firewood for next season. It looks like they will be well stocked.

Tuesday night we stayed up until 9:40 stargazing. It was the first clear night of the trip. It is dark enough here that The Milky Way made an appearance. Even counted four shooting stars before calling it a night. Stargazing may be a cure for cellphone neck.

9-13-17 Wednesday

This breezy morning was spent in the warm van watching whales and seals. Really not much activity. Minkes are spouting a little which makes me conjecture that waves splash in their blowholes. We didn’t notice spouting when it was calm.

The summer here is winding down. Cafe Bleu closed for the season today, but there is still self-serve coffee and a library of whale books for visitors to read.

If you are interested in visiting this unique area, Quebec has a downloadable brochure available here: Visitor’s Guide. The marine park also has an extensive web site available here: Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park.

Our thanks to the friendly proprietors of Camping Paradis Marin for putting up with our lack of French Language Skills and for maintaining a beautiful natural campground. We hope to return soon!

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