It's not unusual to see whales in the Bay of Fundy, but the mayor of Digby, N.S., has captured photos of humpback whales very near the town – an unusual sight that now has others heading to the shoreline hoping to catch a glimpse.
Digby Mayor Ben Cleveland says when he isn't at work, he's usually taking photos of birds and marine life.
"You never know what you're going to see when you're out here,” he said. “I received an email from some folks in town saying they had seen some whales swimming by so when I came out, I came over the hill, they were breaching."
Greg Turner, who runs an eco-tourism business in the area, has a background in marine studies. He also witnessed the rare occurrence with some tourists a couple months ago.
"I had a family of four here from Toronto and we watched a whale breach out in Digby Gut three times, then it went down,” said Turner. “Few minutes later it came back up right against the shore, no more than 30 metres away from us."
Turner says the humpbacks are coming closer to shore because that's where the food is. Whales in the area are commonly seen further up the coast near Brier Island.
"They're following the herring up the bay and there's a good supply, perhaps, and they're just coming up here to have a little snack," said Turner.
Whales are not the only the marine animals spotted closer to shore. Over the summer, many saw sharks off the coast of Lunenburg and Liverpool.
Since marine life is a major attraction in southwestern Nova Scotia, Cleveland says Point Prim is already starting to draw crowds and there is a group working to improve the scenic spot.
"I guess Facebook is quite a marketing tool because when I put that up it was shared hundreds of times,” he said. “The parking lot is full of cars – just people hoping to see the whales."
Cleveland says he'll be in the same spot again on Tuesday hoping for another photo op.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Suzette Belliveau.
