Yesterday we took a whale tour in a zodiac. Weather conditions were not ideal but I love this mode of viewing the whales, birds and cliffs. If you haven't tried it, do; you will never forget the experience. This was out of Witless Bay on the Irish Loop of Avalon.
The freeing of whales from fishing nets was pioneered by animal behaviorist, Jon Lien, of Memorial University. http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/cea/archives/archives_individual.asp?id=233. For most of the years I was in Newfoundland, news items came on air regularly during fishing seasons. & Jon Lien would be interviewed re. the release and where the whale would go.
I met him once. Expecting a big guy, I had to ask was there more than one Jon Lien or was he the one.... There was just one Jon Lien in Newfoundland. He might have been 5'5" in height. A very mild mannered person, who did heroic work. Many whales have lived because of his work.
I recently heard the tale of this work in a series on CBC radio hosted by Gordon Pinsent.
We were traveling via ferry from Juneau to Haines about two weeks ago and saw two "humpback bubble feeding" events. It was fantastic. Both groups were very near the ferry and were easy to watch without binoculars. This was our first experience watching "bubble feeding" on our trip to Alaska. We had seen individual humpbacks earlier in the trip, but never in groups.
Mike
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