Bonjour, Moniseur Whale!

Over the course of the winter, Judith and I decided that we wanted to do some paddling in Quebec this summer. More specifically, in the Saguenay-St Lawrence Marine Park. The park encompasses the entire Saguenay Fijord, and the north shore of the St Lawrence from the Charlevoix region to Les Escoumins, some 20 miles east of the Saguenay.

This area is unique in the world for it's diversity of wildlife, whales in particular, and it's beauty. The area of the St Lawrence that is in the park is an estuary, and has brackish water at the surface, and salt water below. At Les Bergeronnes out past Les Escoumins, the river is more than 1,000 feet deep, and the currents and ample food supply draws 13 different species of whale there in the summer to feed. The Saguenay also is host to hundreds of whales, Belugas in particular. The belugas breed in the Saguenay, at a place called Baie St Marguerite. More about there later.

In discussing the trip with friends, we got more information, and decided to camp at Camping Paradis Marin in Les Bergeronnes, because the whales come right up to shore there, and it's not uncommon to have even Blue whales come right past the campsites within spitting distance. The campground is also VERY kayaker oriented, and has an outfitter on the grounds.

                              Some lucky folks paddlin with a Minke                                                                                                                  Watchin' for Big Blue

We arrived on a Sunday, after having spent the afternoon in Quebec City the day before. What a great place! I hadn't been there in 25 years, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had no problems with not speaking much French, because most people we ran into spoke good enough English that we could get by just fine. We set up our campsite, and Beth came over & told us that she had already had a Beluga swim under her boat, and had a close encounter with a Blue whale. And while we were setting up several Minkes swam by, and a Beluga cruised by a bit further offshore. We did an evening paddle and saw a few whales out in the distance.

Monday came, and everyone was there; Myself, Judith, Ron, Kate, Beth, Pete, Donna, Bernie, Alison, John L and John J. After the obligatory "dawn patrol" just offshore of the campground, whose members changed daily, we headed out for a paddle from the campground to Les Escoumins. About three quarters of the way to our destination, the decision was made to stop and have lunch in a cove where there was a pilot station and a sizeable beach. Just as we landed, a dozen or so Belugas swam by, headed towards where we had come from. We continued on after lunch, with about half the group heading back to camp, and never quite made it into Les Escoumins, stopping about a quarter mile short because of fog. Along the way back, several of us ran into Ron and Kate, who had found a beaver pond on top of a sort cliff that created a waterfall below. Quite a pretty place to stop. On our way back, we passed another campground, and two guys out on a platform invited us up for some wine. Well, I think that's what they said. I said "No Francais", and one repeated the invitation in semi-english. We politely declined, and paddled on. We headed back to camp, and were treated to a close encounter with two Minkes right near the launch ramp.

Tuesday, we planned on paddling from Tadoussac up the Saguenay and around the lower Fijord. The winds were very high, so we went sightseeing instead near Tadoussac. We went to Domaine des Dunes, which is a set of big sand hills that go right to the water. Quite interesting. Then, we walked around town, and did the tourist thing. Judith and I got separated from the rest, so we went back to camp and decided to paddle.

The winds had diminished a bit, so paddling was fine now. We paddled down past Cap Bon Desir, and headed towards Les Bergeronnes. A Minke cruised by, and there were Belugas way offshore. We were about a mile past Cap Bon Desir, when we saw a large whale blow ahead of us. We stopped, and waited. It was heading towards us, and blowing regularly. It was obviously big, and we didn't see a dorsal fin, so we assumed it was a Humpback --- until it got closer, and we saw the dorsal fin. It was a huge Fin whale, more than 60 feet long. It just went about its business, and cruised right past us. Awesome. I shot photos as fast as my camera could. We were giddy after that.

One BIG whale!

We swung about a mile out into the St Lawrence, and made our way back towards camp. A Beluga approached us, and we stopped. He (Females stay in the Saguenay, and the "Bachelor Boys", as the locals call them, stay in the St Lawrence during the summer) swam right past Judith, just feet away, and went on about his business. Right after that, we met up with Bernie, who had just come back form Tadoussac, and we were floating along telling him of our encounters, when the Beluga came back. He swam around Judith again, and went just inches off Bernie's bow, and swam away. We figured he was done with us by now, so Bernie went to join others who had launched, and we headed back to the launch, or so we thought.

They don't get much closer than this.........

............Or this

As we were paddling back, we met up with Alison, and told her of our exploits. We left, and the Beluga made another pass, this time right next to Judith. I made a joke that the whale liked her, and was trying to play. So, we headed back about another 50 yards & talked to Beth for a while. We figured by this point, we were done for the day. Nope. The Beluga came back again, and swam around Judith halfway, and then went under her kayak and floated for a few seconds. The water turned a bright whitish green under her kayak, and she was pointing down saying "Look where he is.....what do I do now?" I said relax and enjoy! It's not every day a Beluga Whale takes an interest in playing with you! We finally made it back to shore as a Minke was showing off just east of the boat ramp. We spent the evening out on the rocks drinking wine and beer, and watching whales.

We finally did paddle the Saguenay on Wednesday, launching from downtown Tadoussac. Wow is the only word that fits this place. As fijords go, I've seen taller cliffs on the sides, and more dramatic landscapes, but nothing quite this beautiful. It's all in how the place is laid out, and the fact that the Saguenay winds a little, and there are coves of varying size off of it, most with no land access. You could explore one section for days and not see everything. There were waterfalls in various places. One that had stairs alongside it, and another that was 300 - 400 feet high, though our sense of scale was so ruined that it was hard to really tell. Could have been higher according to the map. We did a 12 mile circuit at no hurried pace, and just soaked in everything we saw. There were Belugas around all day, including an immature one that kept popping his head up to see what we were all about. At the very end of the paddle, we crossed a rip at the end of the Saguenay, and Ron, John L and I surfed it a bit, and I guess gave the locals a show. There were people sitting on the rocks right next to us, and they seemed a bit entertained by our antics.

    

Judith and I got back to camp about 45 minutes before the others, and as we were unpacking our wet stuff, the people out on the rocks started going berserk. We looked out, and saw a Blue Whale right in close to shore. I thought it was a big Fin whale at first, but our neighbor Michel told us later that it was a small Blue. It came back later, and we all had a party out on the rocks complete with local cheese and some excellent smoked salmon (Firm and not slimy, eh Bernie?). Later on, a Minke cruised right by the rocks and did 2 barrel rolls and then breached. Great fun!

Thursday, the group split up into two factions: Four who wanted to paddle despite the small craft warnings, and those who went hiking in Baie St Marguerite. I planned the paddle. We would launch at Les Bergeronnes, and paddle to Tadoussac and back. Upwind on the way out, and surf back. Well, best laid plans...........we made it about half way to Tadoussac, and the winds really whipped up. We had seen some whales in the distance, and lots of Harbor Porpoises, and we were making no headway, so we stopped on a beach that we saw a double land on. We stayed there for about an hour, and decided to abort, because the winds were just too much, and now the tide was against us, too. What took an hour and 45 minutes to do upwind took 40 minutes coming back. We had Harbor Porpoises leading our kayaks almost all the way back. Guess we were finally moving fast enough to be interesting.

The other group came back, and said that the hike was great, and that they saw dozens of baby Belugas and their mothers swimming around. Judith and I decided we'd do the hike Friday.

Friday, we split again. Judith and I did the daily dawn patrol at 6:00 AM and had a big Blue whale cruise by, and several Minkes. We came in about 7:30, cleaned up, and headed out to do the hike. The rest of the group paddled with Michel and his friend Pierre, who is a local kayak guide & works out of the campground. They were going to paddle from Tadoussac to Les Bergeronnes one way.

The hike was really cool. 3 km out to an observation platform where you can see the whole bay. And there were lots of baby Belugas. A lot of fun to watch, even if from a distance on land. Boats are forbidden in the bay except right along shore, so as to minimize human impact on the little ones. We spent a good part of the day there, and in Tadoussac, and got back to camp about 4:30. Michel's wife was there, and she said that the other group wasn't back yet. I had to wonder about that ---- it's only 6 miles, and downwind the whole way the way they were doing it. She didn't seem concerned. She got a message to go pick up Michel about 5:00. I decided to paddle one more time before we went home.

I launched, and headed towards Les Bergeronnes along the shore. I saw two Minkes swimming abreast, and lots of spectators at Cap Bon Desir. I went about 3/4 of the way to Les Bergeronnes, and then swung about a mile and a half out into the St Lawrence, and headed back towards camp. The winds were brisk, but diminishing, and at my back now. There was an outfitter with clients inshore from me, and I drifted towards them. As I did that, a huge Blue whale surfaced and blew right near them, and about 50 yards from me. It blew again, and then dove, throwing its tail fluke in the air. Only fluke I saw all week, and the only time I didn't have my camera on me.....ugh!

When I came back in, I mentioned the tail fluke, and nobody seemed shocked. Turns out that Pierre changed the plan, and took all but Donna and Michel (Who paddled alongshore according to the original plan) about 6 miles out, and in a triangle to Les Bergeronnes looking for Humpbacks. They said they saw more whales on that paddle than the rest of the week combined, and REAL close up. Ron said the conditions were less than ideal to be that far out without everyone being totally self-sufficient, but that it was still fun just the same. We had wine and cheese with Pierre and Michel, and hung out the rest of the evening. I had spent all of my energy this day, knowing that we had to leave at sunrise to head home the next morning. Driving home when you've spent it all seems a little easier to do than if you still have fuel in the tank. Although, I insisted on stopping in Sainte Anne de Beaupre for breakfast --- best crepes I've had anywhere.

We might go back next summer, and spend more time in Quebec City and further up the Saguenay. But we'll spend at least 3 days at Paradis Marin. You can't not go there.

Au Revoir!