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Whales
|
Check our local Whalewatching Businesses |
| The sound on this page requires the cross-platform QuickTime plugin. After installing the plugin, reload this page. Humpback Whale singing |
Whales
|
Check our local Whalewatching Businesses |
Overview
Taxonomy (scientific classification) & whale information
Whales, like all other animals, fit into scientific categories and sub-categories, which use Latin names. The whales, including porpoise and dolphin, belong to the Phylum Chordata, Class Mamalia, and Order Cetacea. They then fit into a Suborder (of which there are two: Mysticeti—baleen whales—and Odontoceti—toothed whales), and within each Suborder, they are categorized into Family (Subfamilies akso exist, but are not shown here), and then into Genus and species. Several of these species can be seen in the Quoddy Loop area, and due to migration habits, the best time to see them here is from June through September.
Note: There are other whale Families (Monodontidae, Physeteridae, and Ziphiidae), and many other Species (blue whale, sei whale, pilot whale, white-beaked dolphin, saddleback dolphin*, common dolphin, striped dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, gray grampus, beluga*, sperm whale*, pygmy sperm whale*, northern bottlenose whale, dense-beaked whale*, True's beaked whale*, and North Sea beaked whale*) which typically are not seen in the Quoddy Loop region.
*Strays that are seen here on rare occasion,whose typical ranges are generally far offshore, as in the Gulf of Maine, the open Atlantic, or elsewhere.
Whale spouts—and whales themselves—can often be seen from shore at Head Harbour Lighthouse (East Quoddy Head Light) on Campobello Island, at West Quoddy Head Light in Lubec, and near the lighthouses on Grand Manan. A more assured way of seeing whales, though, is on a whale watching trip, several of which are offered by whale watching excursion & charter boats in different communities in the Quoddy Loop.
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Class > |
Order > |
Suborder > |
Family > |
Genus > |
Species |
Common Names |
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| Mammalia | Cetacea Includes: whales, dolphins, and porpoises. |
Mysticeti Note: Baleen whales have a double blowhole. |
Balaenopteridae Includes: minke, sei, bryde's, blue, fin, and humpback whales. |
Balaenoptera | physalus | Finback Whale / Fin Whale | |
| acutorostrata | Common Minke Whale | ||||||
| Megaptera | novaeangliae | Humpback Whale | |||||
| Balaenidae | Eubalaena | glacialis | North Atlantic Right Whale (As of 2010, around 440 left in existence.) |
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Odontoceti Note: Toothed whales have a single blowhole. |
Phocoenidae | Phocoena | phocoena | Harbor Porpoise | |||
| Delphinidae | Lagenorhynchus | acutus | Whitesided Dolphin | ||||
| Orcinus | orca | Killer Whale / Orca | |||||
| Physeteridae | Physeter | macrocephalus | Sperm Whale (NOAA Fisheries website) —uncommon in Quoddy; sighted or audio-detected here in 2010 & 2011. |
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| Monodontidae | Delphinapterus | D. leucas | Beluga Whale (NOAA Fisheries website) —vagrant species; sighted in Quoddy in 2002 & 2003. |
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The most commonly-seen whale species seen in the Quoddy Loop area are...
Baleen whales have a double blowhole.
Family: BalaenopteridaeFinback Whale
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Family: BalaenidaeRight Whale
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Top of Species Types
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FINBACK WHALE
(Balaenoptera physalus)
HUMPBACK WHALE
MINKE WHALE
('Mihn-kee)
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Top of Baleen Species
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RIGHT WHALE
Rare & Endangered
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Top of Baleen Species
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Toothed whales have a single blowhole.
Family: PhocoenidaeHarbor Porpoise
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Family: DelphinidaeWhitesided Dolphin
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HARBOR PORPOISE
WHITESIDED DOLPHIN
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Top of Toothed Species
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KILLER WHALE
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Top of Toothed Species
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New England Aquarium's Right Whale Bay of Fundy Blog
Whale Identification Demo
Whale Information Network (Australia)
Whales (cooperative learning & integrated curriculum)
Whales of Newfoundland
WhaleTimes (for kids)
World Wide Web Virtual Library--Whale Watching Web
Smithsonian--Ocean Planet
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GREAT WHITE SHARK
During the late winter of 2000, Coast Guard Canada reported witnessing an attack of a great white shark on a minke whale off the Wolf Islands in the Quoddy Loop.
BASKING SHARK
Several basking sharks have been seen in the Quoddy Loop--around Deer Island and Campobello Island--during 1999 and 2000, and on occasion have previously been reported in the area.
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