The Wolves are important for overwintering Harlequin Duck

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Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874-1927)from wikimedia.com

• Wintering Harlequin Ducks on the Wolves Archipelago, Bay of Fundy
• Peter W. Hicklin and William R. Barrow
• Waterbirds: The International Journal of Waterbird Biology, Vol. 31, Special Publication 2: Harlequin Ducks in the Northwest Atlantic (2008), pp. 130-132
  (article consists of 3 pages)
• Published by: Waterbird Society
• Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40212147

Abstract

Between November 1994 and November 1995, regular boat surveys for Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) were conducted on The Wolves archipelago in New Brunswick, Bay of Fundy. The birds arrived in early November and departed by mid-May, reaching a peak of 38 birds in March. Sex ratios tended to be close to unity, consistent with observations in Maine in the mid-1990s. Juvenile age ratios were noticeably higher than those observed at other wintering sites, suggesting that the juvenile birds may prefer The Wolves archipelago as a wintering site. Overall, these surveys confirm the importance of The Wolves archipelago as a non- breeding area for this species.

Flappin' Flippers at Bay of Fundy's South Wolf Island

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The crew and passengers on the Quoddy Link Marine cruise to the Wolves yesterday saw a spectacular show as a group of humpbacks breached, rolled, played and flapped their flippers. The photo below is only one of many of Danielle's great whale photos for the day. See the rest at: http://quoddylinkmarine.blogspot.com/2009/09/another-day-with-incredible-humpbacks.html

Art
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From Danielle's blog:


Then an adult whale (might have been Colorado or maybe Notchy) and Colorado's 2009 calf started to flipper slap. The pectoral flippers of humpbacks are incredibly long, up to 1/3 their body length. You can see the size difference between the adults and the Colorado's calf's pectoral flippers, it was so sweet to see both of them slapping their pecs at the same time!!

Right whales off The Wolves

Hey Art, I know the word is out there already about the rights at the Wolves, today the Lubec field team conservatively said there were 40 whales there....it was amazing.  You can check out my video and pictures at the Quoddy Link blog from the past few days with the right whales in the Quoddy Region.

Cheers,
Danielle
Quoddy Link Marine

15 - 20 Bay of Fundy Right Whales Move Inshore at Quoddy

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From Danielle's blog - All I can say is WOW, this will be one of those days that I will never forget. Our 10:00 am trip started with the young humpback we saw on August 25th and 4 fin whales inshore but the boat traffic quickly increased and John made the decision to head offshore in search of more whales. We headed around the Owen Basin but there were no blows to be seen (we were thinking on the ebb tide we may find humpbacks in the Grand Manan Channel). There was word of right whales showing up inshore as well....but inshore means boat traffic so we headed over towards the Wolves still looking. Then we spotted a few blows and saw 2 tails come up! We thought they were humpbacks and made our way over....we were wrong, they were North Atlantic right whales!! We counted 5 close by and could see many more blowing to the east (right whales have a unique V-shaped blow). We even had a right whale breach close by! A conservative count would be 15-20 in total!! Below are some pictures of the right whales from the 10:00 am departure.


Read the entire post and see all of the pics at: http://quoddylinkmarine.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-love-my-job.html

Right whale and Humpbacks off Southern Wolf

Hey Art, I just wanted to let the readers of I love Quoddy WILD know that we had a North Atlantic right whale this morning off Southern Wolf and we have also recorded 2 new humpbacks in the Quoddy region, EKG and Cork.

The attached photo is from this mornings trip.

Cheers,
Danielle
Quoddy Link Marine