Island Quest Whale and Wildlife Cruises

10/21/2024

This view never gets old. 🥰

📍: Pendlebury Lighthouse
📸: Carolyn

10/19/2024

We always love seeing new work from Emma Luck: Northern Naturalist - she asks all the questions about Thom we’ve been wondering about too! There is still so much left to learn about marine mammals in our area! 🤓🩵

Old Thom. What an enigma. He is the only killer whale sighted with any regularity off of New England and near the Bay of Fundy. While he frequently associates with Atlantic white-sided dolphins, he has never been seen in the company of other killer whales.

Why is Old Thom seemingly the only killer whale regularly using this region? New England, and specifically Massachusetts, used to have uncommon but somewhat regular sightings of killer whales until the 1980s.

Their ecology was a bit of a mystery. Some were seen hunting pilot whales, humpback whales, and even fin whales, whereas others were observed chasing after bluefin tuna. There is even one instance of a killer whale off Massachusetts feeding on squid out of a trawl net!

Is Old Thom a descendant of these whales? Is he related to the whales further north off Newfoundland and Labrador? Are the killer whales that once haunted New England's waters truly gone, or have they just moved elsewhere?

So many questions. So few answers. Some of these tantalizing inquiries might be answered by a sample of Old Thom's DNA. Alas, he is a bit of a phantom himself, coming and going and showing up periodically to the delight of North Atlantic whale watchers...

Maybe someday we'll know more!

For more readings on killer whales in New England, I recommend "Orcas of the Gulf" by Gerard Gormley.

10/11/2024

🩷💚 We hope you had the chance to look up last night. The Aurora Borealis was putting on a show again for the fourth time this year and we are so grateful to have witnessed it again! Nature is beautiful!

10/10/2024

Wishing a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our intelligent, talented, amazing Captain Hannah!

We LOVE you! 😁

🩵⚓️🩵⚓️🩵⚓️🩵⚓️🩵⚓️🩵⚓️🩵⚓️🩵⚓️

10/09/2024

🌈 Passamaquoddy Bay rainbow from Pendlebury Lighthouse after todays heavy rains - a beautiful evening!

📸: Carolyn

10/02/2024

✨October has arrived here in beautiful St. Andrews by-the-Sea as our season is starting to wind down.

✨With a mix of warm and cool days on the Bay - the scenery and wildlife continue to wow guests from around the world! We have been spending our days with multiple Minke whales, including old friends Stumpy and Saw. Porpoise, Atlantic White-sided Dolphins, lots of Seals, tons of Eagles and even a Northern Fulmar sighting!

✨We hope you enjoy a few photos from October thus far, we look forward to sharing more photos of the last weeks of whales and wildlife with our small family business.

📞 (506) 529-9900
email: [email protected]



Canada Keep Exploring
New Brunswick / Nouveau-Brunswick

09/28/2024

✨This Weeks Photo Update:

✨We hope you enjoy photos from our departures over the last week!

✨Sightings have included Minke, Fin and Humpback whales.

⚓As the whales start their migration and we begin to wrap up our 2024 season as St. Andrews original family whale watcher and St. Andrews only Sport Fisher, we want to thank every person that has joined us, stopped into our gift shop and all the folks that are here on our social media pages - your support and friendship is what makes every single day awesome!!

🐋 We still have a few departures coming up so if you haven't joined us yet, give us a call!

📸 Biologist Nicole, Captains Chris and Hannah

📞 (506) 529-9900
www.IslandQuestMarine.com

09/22/2024

✨ Sunset over St. Andrews harbour from Pendlebury Lighthouse on this first day of fall.

📸 Carolyn

09/19/2024

✨ Sneak peek from today's departures - the calm before the storm!

Check back later for more photos and updates on this previously entangled Humpback and all the stunning wildlife that calls our area home!

📸 Biologist Nicole and Captain Chris

📞 (506) 529-9900
www.IslandQuestMarine.com to Book Online

09/18/2024

✨ September 18th 11:00am and 1:00pm departures were filled with whales and so much wildlife but the amazing weather really made our day! Warm and calm conditions on the Bay provided us with such amazing views - 3 Minkes this morning and 3 Minkes this afternoon with lots of active feeding, a shark sighting, super curious Grey Seals, Bald Eagles on every island and lots of birdlife!

📸 Biologist Nicole and Captain Chris

📞 (506) 529-9900
www.IslandQuestMarine.com to Book Online

09/15/2024

✨ Today was Atlantic White-sided Dolphin day for us!!

✨We have been so fortunate with the amazing weather and wildlife! Our morning started with a young Minke whale inside Passamaquoddy Bay, this whale was moving quick but surfacing very frequently. Heading out into the Bay we spent more time with multiple Minke whales including Saw. Something caught Captain Chris' eye... heading SW, we were met with a large group of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins, they're so playful and acrobatic! This afternoons departure headed out into the Bay with more Minkes, including Stumpy, a Fin whale and a young Humpback whale we've spent time with over the summer.

✨ We hope you enjoy a few photos from today and make sure to give us a call if you're looking to get out with St. Andrews' family owned and operated whale watcher and sport fishing company.

📸 Biologist Nicole & Captain Chris

📞 (506) 529-9900
www.IslandQuestMarine.com to book online!

09/14/2024

✨ Whale Watching and Sport Fishing have been a ton of fun with awesome guests from near and far over the past few days!

✨ We have been spending our days with multiple Fin whales, Minke whales and the occasional sighting of Hashtag, the Humpback. Seals are spending more time on the rocks again with a few that have fresh White Shark predation bite marks, tons of migrating sea birds, Eagles and so many porpoise!

✨The latest update we have for Chevron the Humpback has been that the entanglement was quite loose and the CWRT is hoping that Chevron will shed the line on his own so we are keeping an eye out and keeping our fingers crossed! 🤞🤞

📸 Captain Hannah and Captain Chris - September 12th

📞 (506) 529-9900
www.IslandQuestMarine.com to book online

09/14/2024

⚓️ The face on the right of this photo may look familiar! Captain Jeff is multitalented and showing off his comedy skills this weekend at KIRA - Kingsbrae International Residence for the Arts and Amphitheatre alongside Jimmy Flynn, Ron James and James Mullinger!

Jimmy Flynn and Saint Andrews-By-The-Sea’s born and raised Jeff Irwin are getting ready to kick off Saint Andrews Comedy Festival tonight at KIRA!

09/12/2024

✨ September days have been absolutely beautiful and we hope you enjoy a few photos from our daily Whale Watching departures with Captain Chris and Hannah!

✨ Sightings have included Fin, Minke and Humpback whales, Harbour and Grey Seals, Herons, Terns, Murres, Eagles, Turnstones, Mallards (to name a few), Harbour Porpoise by the thousands and even a Basking Shark! Join our family aboard the SeaFox for a Bay of Fundy adventure like no other!

📞 (506) 529-9900
www..IslandQuestMarine.com