Whale watchers in Tadoussac get rare close-up of fin whale

Tourists were shocked Sunday when a fin whale swam right up to them as they were out whale-watching near Tadoussac, Que., about three hours away from Quebec City.

“There, there’s two!” people can be heard yelling before crying in glee as the whale approaches the yellow boat, its mouth wide open, belly in the air before dipping back underneath.

The nature cruise does promise “close contact with nature,” but French tourist Eric Mouellic admits he didn’t expect to catch such a close-up view of the creature as it swam under the Zodiac boat.

“An unforgettable memory,” Mouellic wrote on Youtube underneath the video.

Coming across a fin whale

The fin whale, the second-largest animal after the blue whale, can grow to about 90 feet long and can weigh up to 120 tons.

The species is rarely seen, after having been greatly hunted between 1904 and 1979.

What distinguishes a fin whale from other species of the mammal is the distinct ridge along their backs behind the dorsal fin, giving the nickname “razorback.”

There are about 46,000 fin whales left in the North Atlantic region, which includes Canada, Greenland, Iceland, northern Norway, Spitsbergen and the Barents Sea.

rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
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