Today’s been a woolly hat day, courtesy of a bitter wind howling in from the high Arctic. It’s appropriate therefore that we should have seen our first iceberg this afternoon as we drove the coast road towards the bizarrely named township of Heart’s Content, which, as I’m sure you know, is just down the road from its sister settlements of Heart’s Desire and Heart’s Delight!
Our first iceberg
The cold has been made more bearable by the warm afterglow of yesterday evening’s brilliant whale-watching trip. Whale-watching is always a bit of a lottery, and sometimes you lose. Yesterday, we hit the jackpot.
St John’s sits in a sheltered harbour, connected to the sea by an inlet unimaginatively referred to as “the narrows.” Passing through the narrows we were thrilled to spot the towering tell-tale spouts of whales announcing their presence to the world. Hey guys, they seemed to say, we’re over here, why don’t you pop along and say hello. We took them at their word and pretty soon we were amongst them, surrounded by a pod of five or six humpbacks.
At times just a few metres off the side of the boat, they were ducking and diving through the waves, showing off massive, domed backs that sport under-sized dorsal fins. At up to 50 feet in length, and weighing-in at some 50 tons, it’s difficult to fully appreciate the scale of these animals, though the phrase “bloody big buggers” springs readily to mind.
Humpback preparing to dive deep
Best of all was when they arched their backs to make a deep dive. This is the manoeuvre that causes the whale’s huge, fluked tail to lift clear of the water, a clown’s battered white-gloved hand waving goodbye to his adoring fans, before the animal plunges into the murky depths in search of lunch.
With a wave of his battered tail fluke, he’s gone
I struggle to explain why I find whale-watching such an emotional experience. Partly, maybe, it has something to do with the fairy tale notion of a gentle giant. But also, mixed in with this, is a sense of shame about mankind’s persecution of this majestic, harmless creature in the pursuit of a quick profit. Hunted to the brink of extinction humpbacks are, thankfully, now on the way back. They are awe inspiring animals, and it’s a joy to see them. Yesterday was a memorable day; yesterday was a great day.
The Platypus Man in Newfoundland 