Newfoundland is a great place to go whale watching: peak season (July – August) brings a vast number of whales to our shores, so it’s virtually impossible to miss them.
That said, up-to-date information about whale whereabouts is always very useful and that’s what this page is for.
Sharing your sightings
If you’ve recently seen a whale along our coast, please share your sighting here, it’s as easy as leaving a comment below:
Reports about other marine animals near shore, like seals, walruses, sharks, sunfish, tuna, and turtles, are welcome here too.
To familiarize yourself with some of the cetaceans that visit Newfoundland, here are some photos of whales that I’ve seen here:
Humpback whale:
Humpback whales – Seen from Brigus Head Path
Humpback whales are the most commonly seen whales in Newfoundland. They travel in groups and often venture very close to the cliffs in pursuit of their favourite meal: capelin. The two whales in the picture above were seen feeding for hours below the East Coast Trail near Brigus South. The bright objects being dragged alongside the whales are their long white pectoral fins.
Minke whale:
Minke whale – seen from Spurwink Island Path
Minke whales are quite common in Newfoundland too, but in contrast to their acrobatic friends the humpbacks, these smaller whales are elusive and solitary. If you’re lucky enough to see a minke whale from close up, you’ll note that it too has a bright spot on its pectoral fin, it’s just harder to spot because of its small size.
Finback whale:
Finback whale – seen from Father Troy’s Trail
Finbacks, also called fin whales, are the largest whale species you can expect to see in Newfoundland. They don’t come close to shore every year, but when they do they’re hard to miss, being substantially larger than humpbacks.
Blue whales are even bigger of course, but they’re so rare you shouldn’t get your hopes up for seeing one of them here.
White-beaked dolphin:
White-beaked dolphin – Witless Bay Ecological Reserve
White-beaked dolphins are fast and restless, they don’t hang around like whales do so get a good look when you see them. If you want to see them from the towering cliffs along the East Coast Trail, use your binoculars to scan the bay surface for their large dorsal fins and ceaseless splashing.
Atlantic white-sided dolphin:
Atlantic white-sided dolphin – seen near Summerford
Perhaps more social than larger whales, I’ve seen dolphins respond to my presence with curiosity. The dolphin in the above picture was one of a group of five animals corralling herring in a shallow cove near Summerford. I spent over an hour observing them, and every once in a while they came up to see if I was still there.
Killer whale:
Killer whales – seen in Logy Bay
Killer whales are ruthlessly efficient hunters, the summer of 2010 was the scene for several minke whale hunts that ended up on social media. Because all killer whales around Newfoundland are so-called transient or Bigg’s killer whales, an encounter with these whales is highly unpredictable and very special indeed.
Harbour porpoise:
Harbour porpoises – seen from Ship Cove Point
Harbour porpoises are the smallest whales around here, small and cute enough to cuddle and take home with you if you could. Because porpoises are tiny you’ll probably overlook them when you’re watching for whales. Your best chance of seeing them are from a whale watching tour boat, where you can ask your guide to keep an eye out for them.
Whales in the East Coast Trail Guide:
Whale watching tips and descriptions of the whale species along Newfoundland’s east coast can be found in the East Coast Trail Guide, a digital trail guide and photo book available on Apple Books.
More information:
- Whales on wikipedia: humpback whale, minke whale, finback whale, white-beaked dolphin, killer whale and the harbour porpoise.
- Other marine animals on wikipedia: harp seal, harbour seal, grey seal, ocean sunfish, basking shark and the leatherback sea turtle.
- Atlantic Whales has information on specific whales, including ID photos of the different Killer Whale pods that can be seen around Newfoundland and Labrador.
Featured stories about whale watching:
Any whale activity in the Conception Bay North area today? I’ve seen many minkes this season but still no humpbacks.
John McConnell reported a nice display of humpbacks near Ochre Pit Cove the other day, you my get lucky there 🙂
Thank you Sander, I’ll check it out.😃
Many humpback sightings around the island again today, from Twillingate to Bonavista to Trinity Bay to the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. Plenty of dolphin sightings too 🙂
Going whale watching tomorrow Sander,,, any suggestions on where to go around St John’s?
Bay Bulls of course! 🙂
If you want a Newfoundland experience go with O’Brien’s or Gatheralls, if you want a more nature experience go with Captain Wayne, or Eco Tours or Molly Bawn down the road.
Many happy humpbacks reported around St. Anthony today, humpbacks and finbacks are active in Trinity Bay too 🙂
Dolphins active in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, and a day of breaching humpbacks in Trinity Bay 🙂
Killer whales active around Twillingate right this minute!
Good whale sightings continue in Twillingate and in Trinity Bay, with happy humpbacks breaching left and right. 🙂
Familiar sightings of breaching humpbacks continue in Trinity Bay. If you ever wanted to see whales jumping clear from the water, go soon, this show will not go on forever.
Humpbacks still active in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve too.
Killer whales active in Trinity Bay today!
Dolphins in the Holyrood Marine this morning, shared by Derek on the Capelin Calendar.
Dolphins also active in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve today.
Killer whales spotted in Trinity Bay again today 🙂
As expected, killer whales active in Trinity Bay again today 🙂
And killer whales again today, along with humpback whales and bluefin tuna!
We have seen what we think are minke whales off Sandy cove beach in newfoundland
Thanks Jennifer, that’s great, they must be out there feeding on something 🙂
Fantastic whale sightings continue to come in from Trinity Bay, with humpbacks, finbacks, minkes, and large schools of bluefin tuna reported today. Lots of seabirds too of course.
Aside from the expected late-season whale spectacle in Trinity Bay, today I was particularly stoked by a report of an ocean sunfish!
Also, killer whales sighted off Cape Bonavista yesterday.
20+ humpbacks sighted in trinity bay on boat tour with bob from Catalina on Tuesday Aug 21, 2018
Awesome, Trinity Bay is the place to be right now 🙂
Humpback whale sightings reported from Twillingate, Trinity Bay, and the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve today. Porpoises and tuna in Trinity Bay too 🙂
Killer whales reported from St. Anthony yesterday, humpbacks and dolphins too.
Ocean sunfish season is underway, with a huge individual spotted in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve today 🙂
A large pod of dolphins was active in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve today, a solitary humpback was spotted too.
Ocean sunfish, bluefin tuna, and minke whales spotted in Trinity Bay these last few days.
Killer whales spotted near Quirpon Island today 🙂 (Great Northern Peninsula).
A hundred or more dolphins or porpoises in a feeding frenzy this morning between the Bay Bulls headlands.
Awesome, that’s likely the same large pod of dolphins that was active in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve last week, thanks for sharing 🙂
Fantastic sightings continue from Trinity Bay: a dozen bluefin tuna, one humpback whale, one minke whale, one ocean sunfish, and one leatherback sea turtle!
Wish I was out there with you, Sea of Whales!
there used to be a researcher working out of Delhousie(?sp) in Nova Scotia that studied the Leatherback Turtles. A photo of the back of the Turtle’s head works like a Humback tail, as a means to ID different Leatherbacks. Anyone getting photos of Leatherback Turtles should note date, time and location then try to find Mike James.
Good tip, I believe he works for DFO now.
Large group of Dolphins in Smith Sound yesterday. Possibly 50+
Awesome, must have been quite a sight 🙂
The whale watching season is coming to a close, with less and less reports coming in from tour boat operators, because they don’t go out as often anymore, and because whales are further out to sea at this time of year.
That doesn’t mean you can’t still see whales from the coast, in my experience you can see whales from the East Coast Trail all the way into October, and sometimes even after that. You just have to be lucky and know what to look for. If you see a whale in the upcoming fall months, please share your sighting here, I know I will! 🙂
Killer whales spotted near Twillingate today 🙂 (Tizzard’s Harbour)
Minke whales still active in Trinity Bay this week, and a humpback was spotted in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve.
In Holyrood, a tuna was seen breaching the surface in pursuit of its meal today.