The day the whales stole the show (AKA Cape Spear)

Well, we've finally gone as far East as you can possibly go in North America. I think we’re actually closer to Europe than Alberta here (hmm, Europe…). Only a 20 min (or so) drive from St. John’s, Cape Spear is the easternmost point on the continent. The Cape Spear Lighthouse has been guiding ships safely along the coast and into St. John’s harbour for hundreds of years. It is a National Historical Site, and the original lighthouse a museum (there is a more modern, functioning lighthouse nearby the original, as well).  

I've been looking forward to coming here. To me, it signified an important milestone in our travels – we've now been as far east possible in NA, as far south in the US, a long ways north and a long ways west (not as far as possible in these directions, but still pretty darned far!). 

As we parked in the parking lot, and prepared to head up to the lighthouse we gazed out to the ocean and saw whales fairly close to shore. Forget the lighthouse, let’s go watch the whales! Bob had seen whales on his snorkeling trip that morning (for which I’m trying to convince him to write a guest blog), but the kids and I hadn't seen any humpbacks yet. Having them so close was extra exciting.

calf

A mom and her calf were swimming leisurely around the point of the Cape, and we (and many other people) followed them. As soon as we started following, it was like they knew they had an audience (or they knew I was there!). They stopped their leisurely swim and began to dance. It felt almost like they were celebrating my arrival in this place with me. Up into the air went the calf, with a mighty crash back to the sea. It jumped and breached over and over, the smack of its body reconnecting with the ocean echoing back to the watchers on shore. 

Mom

Mom got in a couple good jumps too. A little further down the coast, the calf threw itself completely up out of the water while Mom raised her flipper in the air. Even from the distance, it looked enormous. It was a fantastic ballet. I completely understand now why they are known as the clowns of the sea. The pair continued their antics, while travelling to the south, further than we could go. (Bob figures this pair was the same pair he had seen earlier in the day on his tour, a bit further south.)

When they were too far away to really see clearly anymore, we finally turned our attention to the Historic Site. We had walked around the perimeter of the whole site, climbing the staircases in our efforts to stay with the whales. These stairs also brought us to the original lighthouse.

The original lighthouse is actually that – a house, with the light tower in the middle. The keeper, his family, his assistant, and the assistant’s family (if he had one) all lived under one roof together. The land is rocky, and isolated, and the people who lived here had to be relatively self-sufficient. Even with the lightkeeping duties, apparently there was plenty of free time. The result - at one point there were 22 children living under that roof! Can you imagine living with 21 other kids? (Which was enough to qualify as a school, and warrant their own school teacher. One small problem – the school teacher married into the family, and started producing her own brood!)

Morgan and Bob took a quick tour through the house and then went to check out the working lighthouse. Lily was much more interested in all the things found in the house, and peppered the Parks Canada interpreter with many questions. With her charm and inquisitiveness, she pretty much got a private tour through the lighthouse, and got to learn about anything that caught her eye.  Some days it’s easy to forget she’s only six!

When she finally ran out of questions, we slowly walked back down to the parking lot to rejoin Bob & Morgan. We weren't in any rush to leave, and as I was sitting in the front seat, a splash out in the ocean caught my eye. The whales were back! (Or at least one was.)

This time the whale was doing barrel rolls, and we could see the big flippers rise, and its tail twist in the air. It went right past several boats – one smaller one actually moved out of the way. It was cruising a lot faster than the mom & babe pair, and in a short length of time, it was well on its way to entertaining the people at Signal Hill.

St. John's in the background, left

What a fantastic day! (see the bottom of this post for a series of whale pics)

 (Our morning was spent at Petty Harbour, a little further down the coast. This is where Bob took his snorkeling tour from, and where the kids and I spent quite a bit of time at Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium. Only in its second year, this catch-and-release aquarium showcases local species. All the specimens are caught locally (many right in the harbour) and then are released back into the ocean at the end of the season. A very smart model, in my opinion. Tanks with a variety of fish, a rare blue lobster, a white crab, and Lily’s new favorite food – snow crab – were only a few of the animals on display. There are also several touch tanks with seastars, crabs, algae, urchins, and other creatures.  The aquarium attracted 17,000 visitors last year and hopes to top 20,000 this year. Tours stop here briefly on their way from Bay Bulls to Cape Spear – to let passengers out to see a small working harbour and old fishing village, but I think when they find out the aquarium is there, they will be lengthening their stop!)A series of pictures: the calf jumping and then mom breaching