Really....we all should go whale watching!

Busy days these days for me around the Bay of Fundy. On sunny days I've been out filming 10 more episodes of our Bay of Fundy Travel Show for our YouTube channel and on rainy days I'm in the office. Regardless of how you spend your days it's hard not to be envious of our whale watch tour operators around the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Sample these recent posts & see if you feel the same way!!

"What a weekend! Fin whales, minkes and humpbacks and beautiful sunny skies! The humpbacks have been realy curious and made close approaches to the boat on two trips. Today one was literally beside the vessel."

"What a couple of great days! LUNGE feeding like rarely seen (i.e. amt of it). Yesterday some great breaches and I knew it/they were coming...so I gave the guests some warning & there were great photos taken."

"We had another VERY successful whale watching trip this afternoon. Flash and her calf were sighted today along with another humpback named Churchill. The calf once again played around the boat- sometimes it makes you wonder who's watching who?!?!"

"Had a rollicking good time today. Wind waves and whales. Yeah a bit of fog as well. 2 trips out and all were satisfied."

"The mom and calf fin whale we have been seeing are still hanging around off the entrance to Head Harbour.The other day the calf was barrel rolling quite a bit, here you can see mom surfacing and the calf has his or her tail half out of the water."

Click here for listings for our whale watch tour operators in the Digby Neck & Islands area of Nova Scotia and the Saint Andrews & Grand Manan Islands of New Brunswick.

New Fundy fish co-op!

Last year I blogged about low lobster demand putting such downward pressure on lobster prices that fishers were in danger of spending more to catch them than they could sell them for. This resulted in quite a few lobster fishers selling their wares fresh & direct to consumers out of the backs of their trucks in various cities in the region.

I don't know if that initiative influenced this recent one but there's just been a CSF (Community Supported Fishery) Co-op created for Bay of Fundy! how lovely....here's the scoop!

This summer "Off The Hook" CSF is connecting a co-operative of small-scale, groundfish bottom hook & line fishermen from the Bay of Fundy to subscribing customers in the Halifax area. Subscribers pay in summer for weekly shares of the co-op's catch of fresh whole haddock, hake and pollock.

CSFs provide several benefits to small-scale fishers, such as more family income, more market choices, and increased ownership and control of their livelihood. Since there are no 'middlemen' involved, fishermen can get a fair price for their catch. Subscribers benefit through increased access to the freshest local, traceable, high quality fish along with renewed connections with local fishing communities and the ocean that sustains us all.

Read more about this creative initiative on Off the Hook's website and take a look at the feature feature coverage on the CBC National News the other night.

Thanks to Becky Cliche-Shanahan for permission to use these photos of the CSF folks in action!