Travel What is the most unique aquatic environment near Sable Island? Imagine the Grand Canyon underwater and you get the Gully. Measuring 65 kilometres long, 15 to 16 kilometres wide and up to 3,000 metres deep, it’s located 40 kilometres east of Sable Island. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada made the Gully a protected whale reserve in 1994. In 2004, they designated it as the Gully Marine Protected Area. To visit the Gully, you need a permit. Our on-board resource person SarahWong, a Dalhousie University PhD, had a permit to gather data for the Eastern Canada Seabirds at Sea program. As passengers on the same ship, we travelled with her. Sarah delivered a lecture about the marine mammals inhabiting the Gully’s three ocean zones as we cruised toward it. Sarah used a computer and headset with voice recognition to record the species and number of birds. While she conducted her survey, passengers lined the decks to whale-watch. At first, we saw only water and waves. Suddenly, our expedition leader announced: “There are nine northern bottlenose whales, just 800 metres from the starboard side!” RESOURCES Adventure Canada Sable Island Cruises: www.AdventureCanada.com or 1-800-363-7566 Parks Canada: www.parkscanada.gc.ca or 1-888-773-8888 Barb & Ron Kroll publish the trip-planning website: www.KrollTravel.com Largest submarine canyon in Atlantic Canada Everyone headed to the railings with their cameras and binoculars. We watched the whales, each as long as four divers head-to-toe, catching glimpses of their bulbous heads and small triangular dorsal fins. It was thrilling to see 5% of the Scotian Shelf population of endangered northern bottlenose whales. Just as we were leaving the Gully, another announcement came from the bridge. “A pod of eight long-finned pilot whales is just 200metres from the ship!” Ree Brennin, another marine biologist on our Adventure Canada cruise, helped us identify our sightings with a comparison chart of whale images. “Pilot whales like to eat the squid that inhabit the Gully,” she explained. Especially exciting for us and other passengers was the opportunity to contribute to research. Sarah invited passengers with photos of the dorsal fins of northern bottlenose whales to send them to her to forward to Hal Whitehead at Dalhousie University, whomaintains a photo identification catalogue of northern bottlenose whales in the Gully. We were delighted to contribute our photos. Parks Canada research indicates that visitors who have personal experiences in national parks become advocates for their ongoing stewardship and conservation. After our trip to Sable Island National Park Reserve, we enthusiastically agree. Photographing Northern bottlenose whales in the Gully Marine Protected Area from the Adventure Canada ship Sarah Wong conducts the Eastern Canada Seabirds at Sea study Adventure Canada group on Sable Island CSANews | SPRING 2016 | 21
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