These photos are from summer 2018 and I have JUST (thanks to covid-19 and having copious amounts of time) gone through and edited the whole set.  It was so much fun to revisit them!   

So, in the summer of 2018  I was working at the Stephenville Theatre Festival in Stephenville, Newfoundland and my parents, sister and brother in law had come to visit and see the show I was performing in and then take a trip up through Newfoundland while I had a few days off.   My absolute favourite of our stops was Trinity.  It was such a beautiful little town and we had some great food, saw a great show and basically loved the place.  We also went whale watching.  I had never been whale watching before, but I was super excited.  I really debated whether or not to bring my camera and I almost didn’t.  I was worried about dropping it or getting it covered in salt water or rain.  I am SO happy that at the last minute I decided to bring it.  You can see in one of the photos below that I’m carrying it in a dry bag, but I had it out for almost the entire trip.  

My family and I suited up for whale watching with the boat in the background.  Those strange looking seats are surprisingly comfortable

one of the first tails that we saw

all of us on the boat! (photo by Tarah Kennedy)

The tour company we went out with is Trinity Eco Tours and they were amazing.  Our guide was wonderful, and we were out on the water for almost three hours.  It was pretty cold out on the water, but the suits were pretty warm and comfy.  Not only were the whales incredible, but the scenery was gorgeous.  Newfoundland is really beautiful and if you ever get the chance to visit, I suggest you do!  

It’s so exciting every time you see that spout bursting out of the ocean, or a hint of the whale underneath.  We saw several groups of humpback whales as well as one or two puffins! (click on any photo to enlarge/click through)

At one point, one of the whales swam right under our zodiac, their tail disappearing only a few feet from the edge of the boat.  I’ve seen videos of close encounters like that before, and always assumed that if I were that close to such a huge animal that I would be frightened.   However, the whale was so gentle and so clearly in control and aware of where we were it wasn’t frightening at all, it was amazing!!  Later we came across two whales having a lot of fun doing some fin slapping and rolling around at the surface.  

Interesting fact; Humpback tails are like fingerprints, each whale has unique markings!  The one whale that we followed for quite a bit, and who gave us a bit of a fin slap performance had SUCH a beautiful tail.  Some of the markings looked like an artists doodles.  

It’s almost impossible to narrow down which shots to post as honestly every angle of their tails as they scoop out of the water is so interesting.  There are also some photos in this set where you can really see that the blowholes look like an upside down human nose.  You can also see the almost glowing turquoise patches in the water, which is the white of the whales belly and is what you look for in the water to determine where they will surface.  

This was such an incredible experience.  If you’re ever in Trinity, Newfoundland I highly recommend Trinity Eco Tours as an option to see some gorgeous scenery and incredible wildlife.  I hope to do this again someday, as getting a photo of a humpback whale breaching is now high up on my photography bucket list!