September 6, 2009. Western Head, N.S. Whales and Terns.

The sea is sparkling like a jewel.    The day is perfect by the sea.  Thousands of terns were diving for fish out in the middle of our bay, right in front of the house.   It was an unbelievable sight.  Ken spotted them first and thought they were seagulls, but on closer inspection I thought they were terns, as these birds were diving into the water.  Seagulls do not dive for food, they sit on the top of the water and catch the food coming by, or they feed on the outgoing tide, right along the shore.  Now I must try to figure out what type of tern I had been looking at.  While we watched from our bedroom, I commented that very often we see whales close behind the feeding fish.  In fact, that is one way to see the whales, try to spot the birds first, then watch for the whales.

Sure enough,  later in the morning while Ken was out working in the yard, he spotted a whale  coming up for air.  He called to me, and by the time I came outside, the whale came up again, this time right in front of the house.  This is very unusual, for a whale to be so close to shore and in such shallow water, and sure enough, he headed back to safer water and we could only see the blow come up furthur out to sea, but it was thrilling to see this whale so close to our house. 

Last evening, when we went out to the hot tub I spotted a fishing boat out at sea and knew the fish were running.  Some things are predictable.  The fish are running and the fishermen come out to fish at night.  The birds and whales follow along for the feed.   The good folks of Nova Scotia have been doing that for four hundred years, but we have not, so for us it is exiting and interesting to follow the seasons so predictably.  The whales are on their way south for the winter, and as they travel they fill up on the fish for the journey.  This is the first time this summer we have seen the whales, the day before we leave.  It is the promise of more in store, later in the month.