Whale watching

The small town of Tadoussac at the mouth of the Saguenay River, where it empties into the St. Lawrence river, is known for whale watching because the water is stirred up and an excellent source of krill, the tiny shrimp which baleen whales love to eat.  Therefore, there are 4 or 5 companies offering whale watching tours. We took a 3 hour Zodiac tour as opposed to a large boat tour - it was a cold, foggy morning and very chilly on the St. Lawrence in spite of long pants and hoodies under the long rain pants and survival coats that they supplied. 

Still, once the fog cleared a little and we saw the whales, all discomfort was forgotten!  We spotted a beluga at some distance then a group of 3 humpback whales which we saw numerous times as they dove then surfaced.  The humpback shows its tail flukes as it dives - hard to capture on camera but Shon got one or two. 
The third hour, our guide took us up the Saguenay a short ways, not as far as the towering walls of the fjord but far enough to watch some gray seals sunning themselves on rocks and a minke whale feeding in the deep waters. 
After lunch and a thunderstorm, we drove to a couple of lookouts where whale watching is also possible.  At the first, we saw a mama and baby beluga and at the second, we spotted porpoises and a fin whale.  The interpretation centres at both places (in old lighthouses) had panels showing what each type of whale looks like as it rises from the deep.  Although blue whales do live in this area, we did not see one - they are not as commonly spotted.
Beyond the whales, this area is beautiful for its scenery - Canadian Shield forests and blue lakes in the interior between towns plus gorgeous coastal scenes along the way and in the towns, even an area with sand dunes left by glaciation. 
Another observation yesterday was the wide variation in temperatures in the area - 29 C and hot away from the water and about 18 near the water with a cool breeze and moving banks of marine fog all day.  It is necessary to take a short, free ferry across the Saguenay from Baie Ste. Catherine (where we camped) to Tadoussac - in the shade on the ferry it was cool, in the sun it was HOT,  unless you got in a breezy spot then it was cool and hot at the same time!
Today we will take a ferry across the St. Lawrence and head east on the south shore, towards Gaspe.