Travel and Explore with Win Sterling: Winds and Whales in Newfoundland

Winds and Whales of Newfoundland

June 27, 2002

Leaving the Cheeseman Provincial Park near the ferry landing in SW Newfoundland, we observed a sign that read: “RVs and Trailers take precautions, high winds next 20 km.” On the ferry from northern Nova Scotia the day before, the weather had been nearly perfect – sunny, light breeze and smooth seas. The weather was still mild the next morning, so we visited the Port aux Basques visitor’s center and watched a movie about things to do in Newfoundland. It seemed unlikely that the weather could change so quickly, but when we emerged from the movie, the wind had picked up and a mist fell against the windshield. As we traveled past the warning sign, the wind increased noticeably. We considered returning to the campground to wait for better driving conditions but decided to take a chance that the winds would not be dangerous. A few miles further, I was forced to slow the motorhome as it began to rock in the strong side-wind. The highway passed along the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence below the Long Range Mountains. Large patches of snow dotted areas near the 1500-foot top, where it had accumulated during the winter.

Then, the awning over the door began to rattle. Strong gusts caused the motorhome to wobble down the highway. Whitecaps on a small lake beside the road were shrouded in a cloud of mist blown from the lake’s surface. I pulled off the TCH (Trans Canada Highway) onto the shoulder to tie more straps onto the awning to keep it from blowing away. When I opened the side door of the motorhome, the wind caught the door and yanked me outside. Even standing still, the motorhome continued to sway in the wind. After attaching a couple of these straps on the awning arms, we resumed our journey. The straps helped subdue the rattling awning, but I feared the possibility that the motorhome might actually blow over. We passed a fifth wheel trailer home that had pulled onto the shoulder of the highway as a survival tactic. Luckily, a sign appeared that read: “RV Park.” We pulled into the park, turned off the engine and breathed a sigh of relief. The experience had been more adventure than we wanted and was not the best introduction to this remote and beautiful land.

After hooking up the motorhome to electricity and water, we took a drive in our car to explore the countryside. The winds were still strong enough to blow the Honda around a little, but we felt safe. Our “Bird-Finding Guide to Canada” suggested a hike up into the Long Range Mountains – an extension of the Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern USA – where we might find Connecticut Warblers. We hiked up the side to an overview of the Codroy River Valley through a stunted forest. I wondered if the forest was stunted by the high winds that continued to blow.

Back in the car, we continued explorations of the coastal area and happened upon the scenic port of Codroy. A sign at the port entry announced that a Beluga Whale has been seen in the port. In the history of Port Codroy, there is no recorded evidence of a visit by a Beluga Whale before this one. I scanned the harbor, saw no whale and decided that our chances of seeing a single whale were minimal. A middle-aged fisherman walked up to us and asked if we had seen the whale. “Just keep watching,” he said. “He is seldom gone for long. He associates with humans – their sounds and activities. The local kids play games with him like throwing sticks in the water and he will return them.” He helped us look for the whale for a few minutes, but to no avail. “Often, he follows the fishing boats in and out of the harbor, so he will likely return with the next boat.”

I asked the fisherman what he was catching, so he explained that he was catching mainly crabs. He asked about our vacation and I told him about the winds we had experienced. “Winds in that area have been known to blow over railroad cars,” he said. “They have been clocked at nearly 100 miles per hour. The railroad company once stationed a man on the top of Long Mountain to warn about these high winds. It is not unusual for freight trucks to blow over in these conditions.” I considered the possibility that I was hearing some kind of Newfoundland tall tale till I read the same story in a tourist pamphlet. My skepticism subsided. Certainly, the winds we faced in the motorhome maybe approached only half these extreme speeds, but I was very impressed and overjoyed that we had avoided the really high winds.

Spying a fishing boat that was approaching the harbor, we walked out toward the end of the dock for a better view. On the way, we met a couple of college-age girls who explained that they had been hired to watch over the whale and to document his activities. One carried a video camera to photograph whale activities. “We would prefer that folks do not feed the whale so that he will not become dependent on humans for food,” one said.

“Does that make you whale policewomen?” I asked

“I guess that describes us reasonably well,” one replied. They explained that today was their first day on the job and they had been attracted by seeing an article about the whale in a Canadian national newspaper.

As the boat entered the harbor, we got our first glimpse of the whale in the clear waters of the St. Lawrence Bay. He was following very closely behind the boat -- so close that he appeared in danger of being struck by the blades of the boat’s propeller. As the boat slowed, the little whale circled the harbor as if he was happy to be home. Scars from some encounter with boat propeller blades were clearly visible on his back. Then he headed for a green fishing boat that was loading ice into the hold. A crew member banged on the outside of the boat with his ice shovel and the whale surfaced almost instantly. Someone threw a couple of fish remains into the water and I wondered if they were intended as food for the whale, but they were ignored by the animated animal. By now there was a group of maybe 15 people standing on the dock and observing the whale. He seemed to intentionally perform for the group of us by circling and diving in the water near our feet.

Then we began to piece together a more complete story of the interesting animal. He was first noticed in the St. Paul’s River off the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Quebec – about 350 miles north of Port Codroy. In April of 2001, three young Belugas became attached to humans. They would even allow humans to touch them. The three became so well-known in the area that they were even named – Casper, Shadow, and Phantom. They had somehow become separated from the rest of the pod of whales that constituted their family and wandered 14 miles upriver where they became stranded. Poor Shadow and Phantom died, but human rescue efforts were successful in capturing Casper and returning him to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In mid-April of 2002, Casper showed up far south in Codroy Harbor, where local kids renamed him Echo.

Now if it could be proved that the high winds of southwest Newfoundland somehow blew this little whale down the west coast of Newfoundland to Codroy Harbor, the two threads of this yarn could be tied together. Unfortunately, we know of no evidence that the wind blows whales or that whales blow wind. But, it was certainly fun watching this whale and we are happy that the winds did not blow us into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.