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'It couldn't be a better day': Whales, icebergs delight tourists who brave the N.L. cold

Passengers on a whale-watching boat tour out of Bay Bulls on Friday got a double bill: whales and icebergs. Too bad they had to wear their mitts and jackets.

Whales are showing up off the coast of the Avalon Peninsula

CBC News ·
Wendy Hill, a tourist from Ontario, captures a shot of a seabird perched on an iceberg south of St. John's. (Eddy Kennedy/CBC)

Passengers on a whale-watching tour out of Bay Bulls, Newfoundland, are getting twice the value for their money — a show of whales and icebergs all at the same time.

It was worth the trip for about 30 tourists who ventured out with a Gatherall's boat on Friday afternoon, even if they did have to wear winter jackets and mittens.

Some of the first whales of the season were seen Friday, a bonus for tourists. (Eddy Kennedy/CBC)

"It's very early in the season so we don't [normally] get to see whales so close … but we did get lucky [today]," said tour guide Luke Gatherall about a pair of humpbacks spotted at the bow of the boat.

"The whales, they were just feeding on capelin or herring. They were going around in circles … Basically they were thinking about their gut."

It's the perfect shot: humpbacks and minke whales follow the capelin. (Eddy Kennedy/CBC)

Wendy Hill, an avid birder from Huntsville, Ont., is making her first trip to Newfoundland. 

"Being so close, it's just fabulous to see all that," she said. "And an iceberg. It couldn't be a better day."

Most of the tourists on this trip are from other parts of Canada, where the weather is a little warmer in June. (Eddy Kennedy/CBC)

With files from Peggy Lam

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