Wildlife
Whales near the airports
May to September, says the province, which counts the world's largest population of humpback whales off this coast. Many headlands need no boat.
When people see them
Share of reported whale sightings near our drives, by month. Most reports: Jul.
Coming in June? About 10% of the year's reports fall in June against 76% in July: whales are arriving, not yet at their peak. Late June beats early June; icebergs are the opposite, best in late May and June.
Jan 0%, Feb 0%, Mar 0%, Apr 0%, May 0%, Jun 10%, Jul 76%, Aug 13%, Sep 1%, Oct 0%, Nov 0%, Dec 0%
Humpback whale, Fin whale, Minke whale. These are reports people sent to GBIF, the shared record of wildlife sightings: they show when whales are here, not how likely you are to see one. A busy headland gets more reports because more people look.
From Gander
From Deer Lake
From St. John's
- Cape SpearHumpback whales reported most in July and June24 km
- Witless BayHumpback whales reported most in July and August46 km
- BrigusHumpback whales reported most in July and June75 km
- FerrylandHumpback whales reported most in July and June86 km
- Harbour GraceHumpback whales reported most in June and July108 km
- Cape St. Mary's Ecological ReserveHumpback whales reported most in July and June177 km
Out on the water? Boat tours run from some of these harbours, Witless Bay and Twillingate among them; the route pages say which. Also: iceberg odds by month →