During the summers of 2022 & 2023 I visited Newfoundland, known as ‘The Rock’ because of the endless expanses of rocky barrens and rocky coastlines. While there we had opportunities to observe and photograph the iconic Puffins nesting on rocky islands, caribou herds, humpback whales, icebergs and much more.

We have all seen a caribou, although for most of us it was on the back of a Canadian quarter. These elegant creatures travel in herds throughout the Canadian north. Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula is where Canada’s southernmost herd can be found, where they prosper on the rugged barrens and boreal forests.

The Woodland caribou can be found throughout Newfoundland. To see them one needs to venture off the beaten path. We were fortunate to see a herd with 3 massive bulls on the South Avalon- Burin Oceanic Barrens. After travelling for hours to the barrens we encountered a heavy fog bank, but persisting we set out exploring and as a shower cleared much of the fog there before us was the herd grazing on the tundra like foliage.

We travelled to a couple hotspots for whale watching and took a zodiac tour and although we saw whales (humpbacks, fin, minke & pilot) we had no encounters that awed us. Then on our last day in Newfoundland, we went out with family on their boat to fish for cod in the deep waters of Smith Sound, not far from historic Trinity and Bonavista. Our fishing trip turned into an amazing whale watching adventure as we encountered a mother humpback and her calf exploring and playing. Thanks to our 600 mm lenses we were able to observe from a distance comfortable for them, as mom proceeded to feed the calf, then explored the waters of the Sound as the calf rolled and flapped his pectoral fins and slapped his powerful tail fluke.

Newfoundland is known for it’s whale population. With 22 species of whales and dolphins that visit Newfoundland’s bountiful waters, opportunities abound. Some of the better known whales that can be seen are minke, sperm, pilot, blue, orca and humpback. While all are special to see, the humpback is the show off of the whale family and offers the best opportunity for interesting photos.

Any visit to Newfoundland wouldn’t be complete without a journey to Iceberg Alley to see these naturally created ice sculptures. Towering over 100 feet above the ocean’s waves, these 10,000 year old chunks of glacier were born in the far north and traversed the North Atlantic to finally reach Newfoundland’s shores.

After our arrival at Cape St. Mary’s, as we hiked across the tundra-like barrens, we couldn’t help but wonder if we would be able to see anything through the heavy fog that pervaded the entire coast. As we approached the trail’s end we could hear, but not see a myriad of seabirds crying out into the ocean. Then in the last few metres standing on the very end of the trail were a pair of courting razorbills and just past them looming in the fog, towering from the waves below, a sea stack covered with a colony of gannets.

As we stood on at the trail’s end, on this narrow spit of land thrusting into the Atlantic and peered over the abrupt end of the trail, on all three sides cliffs plummeted a hundred metres  to the ocean’s churning surface below. Only a few metres away a sea stack rises from the fog shrouded waves below offering a safe nesting site to countless Northern Gannets.

Fish drying racks    ⇓

Root Cellar – Where a family kept it’s perishables before electricity and refrigeration   ⇓

Capelin washing ashore by the billions    ⇓