Capturing the Moment

Near miss in the fog Minke whale sighted!   I was pretty skeptical about our chances when we arrived at the harbor and we couldn't even see the boats on the dock. The fog was so intense that we could have played a game of hide-n-seek and the seeker would have had no chance. In reality the visibility was about 50 yards, and with the approach regulations inside the marine park being no closer than 200 yards I figured our chances were pretty much nil. But the crew surprised me and with a little help found us some whales! Horror Movie villain? The gang ready to go   Tadoussac is a tiny town in French Quebec, Canada where the Saguenay Fjord empties into the St Lawrence Sea Way. Its hard to understand how whales are here unless you zoom way out on the globe and see that the whales have an easy opening to the sea. They come here in the summer months for good feeding. 13 different species have been seen here, but I feel pretty lucky to have even seen one of those spe...

Motel de l'Anse a l'eau After all my stories of visiting Tadoussac for whale watching in the past, it was about time I take some family up that way. So this past week my mother, sister, and brother in law all made the trip up to Vermont where we piled into a rental car and hit the road for the 7+ hour road trip up into Canada. It was a beautiful drive through French Quebec past rolling farm lands and sparkling water of the St Lawrence. We finally made it to the ferry which took us across the Saguenay River into the quaint little town of Tadoussac. This town is filled with cute, French style eateries and small boutiques. Old wrought iron lamppost dot the streets and walkways while the impressive Hotel Tadoussac dominates the waterfront.  We stayed at the quaint Motel de l'Anse a l'eau, which I think means 'from the cove to the water.'   Most visitors to Tadoussac come for the whale watching in the Parc Marin du Saguenay-Saint-Laurent. Beluga whales...

  Here we are at the end of another incredible year. It has been filled with big travels, adventures, guiding, meet ups with family in foreign countries, and cool wildlife encounters above and below the water. Click through the different links for a look back at different posts and highlights from all the adventures. All the best pictures can be found at www.daimartamarack.com .    The year started out for me running exclusive guiding trips aboard the Safari Explorer in the Hawaiian Islands. The second half of January provided some ample off time for an incredible scuba diving trip to Indonesia with Heidi. We spent some quality time muck diving around the shipwreck of the UST Liberty in Tulamben on the island of Bali and out on Nusa Lembongan , a small island just off the coast. I was overjoyed to be joined by Ed and Jamie all the way from Savannah. Then Heidi and I flew a couple of islands east to catch a liveaboard dive boat called 'Amalia' for a weeklong underwat...

Cute BnB's are the way to stay in Tadoussac    Tadoussac is a small town about three hours drive north from Quebec City deep in the heart of French Canada. Nestled in the hills where the St Lawrence waterway meets the only fjord on the east coast of North America, the Saguenay. Because of this ideal location Tadoussac was the first trading outpost set up by French explorers in New France. Nowadays tourists flock to the rugged village for its quaint beauty, easy hiking trails, and its facilities for whale watching. The main draw for me of course is the whales. Even though I get to see whales all the time in Alaska and Hawaii through my work I love experiences different whales in different parts of the world. Here in Tadoussac you can see not just humpbacks, but also blue, fin, minke, and beluga whales. Most are here in the height of summer for feeding on the upwelling just offshore, although the belugas live here year round. You can see the whales from shore but the ...