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 of several exciting 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 not easily predicted 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:
- Wikipedia links for whale species around Newfoundland, both common and unusual: humpback whale, minke whale, finback whale, blue whale, sperm whale, killer whale, beluga whale, white-beaked dolphin, Atlantic white-sided dolphin, and harbour porpoise.
- Wikipedia links for other marine wildlife around Newfoundland, both common and unusual: harp seal, harbour seal, grey seal, bearded seal, ringed seal, walrus, ocean sunfish, basking shark and leatherback sea turtle.
- The Atlantic Whales website 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:
What are the species referred to as racers? I assume they are a type of porpoise. I was at Fort Amherst about a week ago and saw a group of about 6-8 jumping. They were quite a ways off, but from my viewpoint they looked very dark.
By your description I’m guessing they were Atlantic white-sided dolphins. They like to jump clear out of the water and have darker backs than white-beaked dolphins.
To slightly clear up or confuse matters, many Newfoundlanders mistakenly call dolphins porpoises, which of course are a different species. The only porpoises around Newfoundland are harbour porpoises, so if your observed species truly were porpoises, those were the ones you saw 🙂
Killer whales killed a minke whale in Trinity Bay today, humpback showed up to drive the orcas from their kill. Observed and reported by Sea of Whales Adventures, from Trinity. 🙂
In Trinity Bay, humpback whales are still breaching like there’s no tomorrow, finbacks, minkes are dolphins are present too.
Killer whales, humpback whales, and finbacks whales all still active in Trinity Bay. I must say this is a great year for killer whale sightings 🙂
A killer whale spotted from the East Coast Trail in Flatrock a few days ago, reported today 🙂
Humpback whales breaching spotted from tour boat out of Bonavista today 🙂
Killer whales again today in Trinity Bay, just amazing they’re sticking around for this long. Among other things, these whales prey on minke whales which are present in good numbers right now, so go see them while the sightings last…
Tour boats in Trinity Bay report the whale watching is still good, with lots of feeding and different species around, like humpbacks, finbacks, and minkes.
Some whales are still here, with reports coming in from Trinity Bay where a humpback, a finback, dolphins, and a couple of minkes were sighted. Also seen: an ocean sunfish! September is still an exciting time to be on the water 🙂
Another ocean sunfish sighting today, this time near Middle Cove 🙂
Another exciting sighting from this past weekend: a leatherback sea turtle was seen in Dildo, Trinity Bay. Like the ocean sunfish, this creature comes to Newfoundland to feed on jellyfish and such 🙂
Thank you so much for this info. I have seen so many jellyfish around St. John’s and CBS.
You’re welcome 🙂
A super-pod of white-sided dolphins spotted in Trinity Bay today (700-800 reported), whales still present too.
Some tour boat operators are wrapping up the season this weekend, but keep your eyes on the water at your favourite viewpoints and coastal trails, dolphins and whales are still around, as are ocean sunfish and sea turtles 🙂
I was hiking the ECT near Beachy Cove on Dec 28 and was lucky enough to see a minke whale very close to shore. On Dec 27 I was on top of Prince’s Mountain looking over Portugal Cove and saw a pod/group of something in the distance gliding in and out of the water. Do porpoises or dolphins stay around all year?
Thanks for sharing Sandra, yes you can see porpoises and dolphins throughout the year, and some whales too, as long as there’s fish around to feed on. December always seems to bring some sightings, Portugal Cove and Bay Bulls in particular are noted for the occasional humpback sighting in winter 🙂
Definitely saw multiple something spouting from signal hill in St John’s this morning. Hard to say what from a distance but sure looked like whales!
Thanks for sharing Patrick 🙂
Not a whale but a very large fish. A tuna in fact, smashing something in our wake as we moved to a new fishing spot off Freshwater, Conception Bay. What a sight! Thank you, Bud, for taking Greg and myself out at 4 am for a bit of cod fishing. Can’t wait to get back to Newfoundland, and Covid be damned.