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 iBooks.
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:
An amazing bunch of sightings from yesterday: sperm whales, killer whales, bluefin tuna, bald eagles and lots of seabirds in Trinity Bay.
Sperm whales in Trinity Bay again today, also dolphins and a minke whales and the usual assortment of birds: bald eagles, puffins, murres and gannets.
It’s Labour Day, the season is slowly winding down but there are still puffins, minke whales and ocean sunfish present in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve.
Another day of sperm whale sightings in Trinity Bay today, harbour porpoises and seabirds too.
Minke and a young male humpback in Southern Bay Area
Thanks Heather, good to hear they’re still around 🙂
Killer whales thrilled whale watchers onboard Twillingate Adventure Tours this morning!
Surprisingly saw a solitary humpback making its way south across the mouth of Bay Bulls early this morning. I think that may be the latest I have ever seen a humpback.
Thanks Ed, good to hear it, there’s always a few stragglers 🙂
A sei whale was reported in Trinity Bay this weekend, also a single humpback and several bluefin tuna, and of course the usual seabirds.
The sei whale was spotted again in Trinity Bay yesterday, and so were three sperm whales.
A grand day on the water for Sea of Whales in Trinity Bay today: 6 sperm whales, 1 humpback, and a large pod of dolphins (30-50).
Several porpoise sightings in Trinity Bay these past few days.
Two leatherback turtle sightings in Trinity Bay yesterday, reported by Trinity Eco-Tours.
Today in Trinity Bay: killer whales (12), white-beaked dolphins (40+) and 1 sei whale.
Multiple sightings of large pods of dolphins in Trinity Bay this week. Minke whales still present there too.
large pod of Dolphins in Smith Sound, Trinity bay, Feb 20, 2018, have photos, not great due to distance, speed and poor lighting, but some of them are quite interesting.
Thanks for sharing Thomas, that’s a great sighting even from land 🙂
i have numerous photos on nlnature.com if you are interested.
Thanks I just had a look, a great sighting of white-beaked dolphins, must have been fun watching them 🙂
it was amazing, i followed them along the shoreline for over 30 minutes. the photos do not do it justice as there was always more activity than you could observe in a photo.
They’re a wild bunch aren’t they 🙂
very wild. I am sure some of the bursts of speed and jumping, were feeding related. There are usually a lot of Herring in this area about now, and Cod overwinter in Smith Sound. feel free to use any photos if you wish. i can e-mail them to you.
Thanks Thomas, I’ve linked to nlnature in your comment above so everyone can see your sighting there. 🙂
This time of year can be dangerous for whales and dolphins. This weekend a small group of dolphins were seen trapped by the ice in Heart’s Delight. There’s a story on CBC here. Note that the article talks about porpoises, but these are definitely dolphins, white-beaked dolphins by the looks of those big dorsal fins.
The dolphins were still OK yesterday, trapped with nowhere to go, but still alive. No word yet this morning. CTV News has an article and video on their website here.
Another news article about the plight of these trapped dolphins.
CBC News has posted a YouTube video about the dolphins.
The dolphins in Heart’s Delight are still stuck as of this morning.
With a lot of effort from the community, and the wind blowing in the right direction, the dolphins were able to escape their icy trap this afternoon. A great end to this story. CBC has a video of the events here.
A dead sperm whale washed ashore near Corner Brook, story here and here.
We had two Humpback Whales here in Smith Sound on April 4. I thought their behavior to be odd as one was following the shoreline so closely that is could barely submerge. photos of the one tail I observed tail will be posted to 500px.com/tclenche and numerous photos will be posted to nlnature.com
They must have been following their meal close to shore, thanks for sharing, I just saw your picture on nlnature 🙂
They were swimming very slowly, and the whales were not together. I have seen many Humpbacks feeding here in my years, never have i seen this behavior before.
Interesting 🙂 Was it anything like this whale?
Very much so, except the whale kept swimming along the shoreline and did not circle at any point. Maybe it was looking, but did not find, any food.
Smith Sound is so deep, most whales here can successfully feed in deeper water.
Now that May is here there are tour boats out on the water again. Icebergs are the obvious targets for these boats right now, but keep a look out for whales as well, as they’ll soon be putting on a show for us too!
Humpback whales were spotted around Twillingate yesterday, by passengers on a tour boat going out for icebergs. Good times ahead!
In this very first week of the boat tour season, seabirds are being reported in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve (Atlantic puffins and others), but no whales yet. Keep your eyes peeled, I’m sure there’s a few of them out there already.
Humpback whales spotted in Trinity Bay this afternoon, keep a look out for them when you’re out there looking for icebergs! 🙂
A lone minke whale was spotted off Father Troys’s Trail in Torbay today. 🙂
Two large and old Humpback Whales cruising Smith Sound, Trinity bay, just before dark last evening, Saturday, May 19, photos on nlnature.com
Thanks Thomas 🙂
Three LARGE Humpback Whales cruising Smith Sound Monday afternoon, May 21. Came close to shore and some amazing photos to follow on nlnature.com
Awesome, looking forward to the photos 🙂
some photos now posted to nlnature.com
Sea of Whales reports 6 humpbacks and hundreds of harp seals in Trinity Bay, as well as seabirds feeding on capelin! 🙂
Humpback Whales again in Smith Sound, Trinity Bay, 4:30 pm, May 22
Thanks Thomas, is there a good viewpoint visitors can go to to see them swim by?
there are a couple of good viewpoints in the area where you can watch the whales from shore, lower Lance Cove and Aspen cove/Petley. The thing is, it is not consistent, the Whales are here for the past several days, but i do not know how much longer
for photos go to 500px.com/tclenche . i have posted two photos taken from the shore above Aspen Cove
Thanks, I bet May visitors will be delighted to see these whales when they visit your area 🙂
Humpbacks reported in Trinity Bay again today, as well as a solitary finback whale and lots of seabirds.
Humpback whales also reported off Twillingate today 🙂