Newfoundland & Labrador - Whales

Every year, 22 species of ocean mammals come for peace, quiet, and the odd photo op.

There are some people, would you believe it, who have never seen a whale. Sure, they’ve seen pictures, maybe even a film clip on the TV – but these are mere illusions, are they not? A clever bit of trickery designed to imitate the inimitable, no truer to life than naming a noble orca Willie and training him to dance for his dinner in a giant fish bowl.

But to see a whale, to really see a whale, well that’s a whole other kettle of fish. Take the humpback, for instance, each one weighing as much as a house. Thousands of the noble beasts cruise these shores each summer, chasing capelin, snacking on krill, and spontaneously lifting their entire mass out of the sea in full breach as if to dramatically, albeit playfully announce their arrival.

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And in that moment, that colossal moment, is a lifetime. In that smiling eye that has seen the depths of the oceans, the breadth of this continent’s shores and everything in between, is mirrored the story of humanity. For these great beasts, each one the collective size of you and five hundred of your neighbours, are our largest cousins. Reminding us, simultaneously, of how small we are and how big we can be.

And that, my friend, is something worth seeing.