Monday, November 23, 2009

St. Lawrence River Whales


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Impressive Mammals are swimming in the St. Lawrence River.  Every summer hundreds of  Whales are coming from the Atlantic Ocean and share the waters of the St. Lawrence River with Belugas and Seals.  They come here for the abundant food provided by the Labrador Current, a cold water current from the Arctic that travels up the St. Lawrence all the way to the Saguenay Fjord at Tadoussac.




Whales arrive in the spring to eat the plentiful food and depart in the fall, once they have fattened up! The more food a whale eats, the thicker its layer of fat, or blubber, becomes. When it returns to the Atlantic for the winter, the whale will live off its stored fat.
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Whale Watching


For a long time, little was known about the whales of the St. Lawrence until about thirty years ago, when researchers began studying them in earnest and whale-watching became a popular activity.  Some whales make impressive leaps into the air, much to the delight of heir human audience.  Others exhale a spectacular plume of spray at the surface of the water, before taking a deep breath and diving in search of more food.

Hunted for centuries for their blubber, whales are still being followed by people in boats trying to get a good shot - now using cameras instead of harpoons! 







However you don't need to board an expensive zodiac, whales are easily to observe from the shore at sunrise or after sunset.  Observe St. Lawrence Belugas in Sainte-Marguerite Bay all summer long.  Walk to the lookout to see if you can spot the whales!  From May to October many
 types of Whales are abundant, especially in the area between Tadoussac and Rimouski.
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Threads to the Whales through Oil Pipeline:  http://action2.davidsuzuki.org/belugas



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