A Bus Trip To Baie-Sainte-Catherine With My Brother

In 2014, my brother spent a few months in Quebec and I decided to take a plane to meet him there. Since Tadoussac was not too far, he agreed to go watch the whales with me and I booked the trip. The day before, my brother realized that the bus trip from Quebec to Baie-Sainte-Catherine lasted more than 3 hours and was unhappy that we had to wake up very early. I started wondering if that was such a good idea and I hoped that we would not be disappointed.

First Thing First, Some Background On Baie-Sainte-Catherine’s Whales

Baie-Sainte-Catherine is a town from where you can observe many of the St. Lawrence whales. And I say many because there is more than one species of whales (and dolphins) in the region. Actually, 13 species come to the St. Lawrence waters: killer whales, long-finned pilot whales, harbour porpoises, northern bottlenose whales, sperm whales, belugas, north atlantic right whales, blue whales, minke whales, fin whales, humpback whales, white-beaked dolphins and atlantic white-sided dolphins.

However, be aware that they are not present all year long. The belugas are residents of the area, even though it’s easier to see them during Summer. Sadly, since that same year 2014, the COSEWIC classified the St. Lawrence beluga population “endangered”. It’s not a new fact, the beluga population had already been declared “threatened” since 2004. According to the latest count, there would only be about 900 belugas in the St. Lawrence.

Several factors explain this population decline. Amongst them, we can highlight the fact that belugas have lost part of their habitat and what remains of it has been damaged and the fact that their prey are less numerous and of less good quality. Plus, climate change is not helping.

So, is it ecologically responsible to go on a whale-watching cruise? It’s up to you to decide. From what I gather, the region is trying to protect the ecosystems while encouraging educational, recreational but also scientific activities. For example, the Alliance Éco-Baleine has defined 5 criteria that companies need to meet. To be honest, at the time, I didn’t think too much about the issue. The company I booked our trip with was AML and they do seem to have sustainable actions, but you never really know looking at a company’s website. Do your own research before booking.

Climbing On The Bus To Baie-Sainte-Catherine With Sleepy Eyes

When the alarm rang, we grunted. Half awake, we found the bus and dozed off a bit. Despite being tired, I couldn’t sleep. I never really can in transport, unless I’m fully exhausted. So I looked out the window, and the view was beautiful: Autumn in Canada really is something. There, outside the city, the forests seemed endless. Truly, I don’t think that I had ever seen such large wild areas before. Add to that the crazy colours of the trees and it looked like a dream: dark green, bright yellow, orange, different shades of red… I started taking pictures, trying to capture part of these astonishing views.

We stopped in a traditional fromagerie and, although it doesn’t seem very exciting, we had the best time there. The weather was great, we were fully awake, had seen so many stunning trees, and oh my god, this was one of the best cheeses I had ever tasted. We were starving and bought sandwiches filled with fresh cheese: such a delight! My brother was now fully on board for this trip and I couldn’t have been happier.

We saw some more forests, some farms, giant fields, white houses with pointed rooftops… Then, we made another stop before arriving at Baie-Sainte-Catherine, next to a lake. This was perfect: the weather, the colours, the reflection of the trees on the lake, the little house on the other side. Everything looked magical! Who would have thought that a bus trip could be so much fun?! My brother fake-surfed on a stone and I struggled finding the right position to take a picture. We enjoyed sitting next to the water… Honestly, we nearly forgot about whales for a moment.

Frozen Ears On The Boat

Even though the weather was sunny, we were really cold on the boat. To see the whales, you have the choice between going on a zodiac (a small boat) or on a cruise. It was slightly cheaper to book the cruise and I was afraid to be too cold on the zodiac (because water goes in the boat), so I had booked the cruise on the big boat. Well, we didn’t get soaked in water, but the wind was icy and our ears and bodies were frozen. The only reason we stayed on the deck was because we wanted to see the whales.

I don’t know if it was specific to that day, but we didn’t see much. In reality, we saw the backs of fin whales from afar and white dots that were supposed to be belugas. The closest thing to a whale we saw was the breath, the back and the tail of a humpback whale named Blanche-Neige (Snowhite in French) that was really far. It wasn’t much, but it felt like we actually hadn’t made the trip for nothing.

Despite being disappointed by the cruise in Baie-Sainte-Catherine, we were glad to have woken up early because the whole bus trip had been great. We had booked the Baleines Express to see whales, but in the end, we experienced so much more than that. The trip back to Quebec was quick, I believe we might have closed our eyes a little in the bus. Overall, it was a really good day!

To see more photos of Canada, you can visit the gallery Canada.