Best Kept Secrets Of Quebec: Watching Whales In The St Lawrence

Quebec City is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec in the North East of Canada. It has a very French vibe. When you are visiting, it feels like being in France without the inconvenience of travel to Europe. And you can go watch whales!

Disclosure: This post might contain affiliate links. If you buy through one of these links, it will not cost you anything extra, but we might get a small commission. Thank you for supporting us. To learn more, please read our full affiliate disclaimer page.

Old Québec (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

Before the pandemic, we went on a quick getaway to explore Vieux Québec (a Unesco World Heritage Site) AND to watch whales! A surprising combination. Who knew one could watch whales out of Quebec City?

After we checked our Hilton Honors points, we found out we had enough to stay for five nights but only pay for four. (a Hilton Diamond Status benefit). Free hotel stays for the win!

Vieux Quebec is the only North American city which still has its ramparts, and bastions, gates and defensive works which still surround Old Québec. The Upper Town, built on the cliff, with the Lower Town and its ancient districts, is one of the best remaining examples of a fortified colonial city.

When you are in Quebec City, don’t miss checking out their magnificent Parliament Building.

Are there really Whales in Québec City?

Well… two years ago, we were here to watch thousands of snow geese during their fall migration (future blog post). During that trip, we learned that whales come up the St Lawrence River, but only half believed it. I mean it’s a river, not an ocean! Who would believe whales would be there? No way we should be able to watch whales in Quebec City!

Shortly after we arrived, we talked to the concierge and expressed our doubts. He convinced us that “yes, you can go on a whale watch from Québec City. Reassured, we immediately booked a whale watching trip for the next day. We couldn’t wait to see for ourselves!

Actually We Took a Day Trip to Watch Whales in Quebec!

The next morning, a bus picked us up at the hotel. Although the drive to Baie-Sainte-Catherine was long (3 hours), it also was very scenic. The bus driver regaled us with tons of good information. It was interesting to drive past the Montmorency Falls, which are almost twice as high as the Niagara Falls! Sadly, I didn’t get a good picture of it, so we clearly will have to visit these falls some other time.

Halfway the ride we stopped in Charlevoix, one of Canada’s Unesco Biospheres Reserves. We picked up breakfast and/or lunch at a laiterie since there wasn’t going to be food on the whale watch. It also was nice to stretch our legs.

After we arrived in Tadoussac, we got to dress up in funny clothes and sign our lives away. Of course, none of that dampened our excitement about searching for whales in a Zodiac boat.

Whales!

Soon after, we boarded and took off, speeding over the water of the St Lawrence. Nice to be out on the water, even if the speed and the noise were a bit overwhelming. No whales yet, but we saw gulls, cormorants and guillemots. Until suddenly, the first whale appeared!

Tic Tac Toe the Humpback Whale

Wow! She was huge and beautiful and happily blowing and leisurely swimming. It was awe-inspiring to observe her hugeness. And even cooler when she arched her back and dove, showing off her tail, or technically her fluke.

We have learned that the fluke is a very useful attribute in recognizing whales. Firstly they are relatively easy to see. Secondly they are very different for each whale. Our naturalist identified this particular humpback whale as Tic Tac Toe. Tic Tac Toe was born in the Caribbean around 1997/98, so she is about 25 years old now. She seems to regularly make the trek from down South to up North in the St Lawrence. We think she enjoys the abundance of food here. She has an X on the right part of her fluke, which earned her the Tic Tac Toe nickname

Over the years, she has been observed with two different calves. In addition, she even was part of the first mother – calf humpback pair to be observed in the St Lawrence. That first calf was Aramis. In March 2020, researchers from the Turks and Caicos Islands saw Tic Tac Toe’s daughter Aramis accompanied by her very first calf.

So Tic Tac Toe became a grandmother… at about 23 years old! But that doesn’t mean that she couldn’t still give birth again herself. Indeed, during the summer of 2020, Tic Tac Toe was observed with a much smaller individual. Was this her fourth calf? Maybe some day we will observe them as a grandmother – mother – daughter trio.

Minke Whales

After we admired Tic Tac Toe for a while, we sped to another site. When we arrived we observed a a couple hunting minke whales. They dove very shallowly, so no good tail pictures.

A few years ago, I had seen a minke whale in Maine, but the ones here were more active. Not to mention that in Maine we just saw one, here they were more plentiful. Did you know that minke whales are the second-smallest of the baleen whales?

Baleen whales feed by first gulping up huge amounts of water. After their gulp, they sieve it all through their baleen, trapping the krill and the fish inside their mouth. We thoroughly enjoyed watching them swim and even saw one of them breach!

Anything Else Besides Whales to Watch?

We enjoyed the show until it was time to move into the Saguenay Fjord. Even before we spotted any wildlife, we admired the breath-taking beauty of this fjord. But of course we were even more fascinated when our boat got us to a group of seals.

Seals Sunning!

The seals were sunning themselves and we got to watch them for a bit. Very cute, very special!

Sadly enough this marked the time of return and we speedily made it back to the harbor. When we disembarked we realized that the concierge had been right. We did indeed watch whales out of Quebec City! What a wonderful adventure this was. We would like to encourage anyone to go on this amazing whale watch!

Best Months to Watch Whales in Quebec City

From the Whales Online Website:

All along the St. Lawrence, boat-based whale-watching tours are generally offered daily from May to November. On land, several sites offer a chance to have quality marine mammal watching as well. In particular, the Whale Route from Tadoussac to Natashquan offers some of the very best spots to view them from shore.

On an average, the abundance of whales is the highest during September and October and they are generally quite active as they prepare for their long migrations to their breeding grounds.

Or Check Out Other Places to Watch Whales

Not only can you watch whales, you even can TOUCH them if you make it out to Magdalena Bay in Baja California where grey whales raise their babies.

Alternatively, there are great whale watches out of Victoria in British Columbia .

Conclusion on Watching Whales in Quebec City (technically Tadoussac)

It turned out that you can go watch whales and more on an easy day trip from Quebec City. Have you been to Quebec City? How did you like it? Have you ever seen whales? Where? Let us know in the comments, we would love more ideas for our travel bucket list.

Further Reading

• Tic Tac Toe. Read more about my favorite whale that I saw in Quebec City. The Whales Online website;
• Humpback Whales. From Whales Online. Telling about those whales in the St Lawrence and around the world.
• Minke Whales. From Whales Online. Tells you when to find minke whales in the St Lawrence and show pictures of named individuals;
• The 13 Species of Whales in the St Lawrence. Which other whales, dolphins and porpoises make their home close to Quebec City?
• Croissieres AML Whale Watching cruises. Find information about whale watching cruises out of Quebec City and other locations. We used them and highly recommend the experience. They have both zodiacs and bigger boats available;
• Québec’s ultimate road trip: into the wild on the Whale Route. Explore Québec’s wild north shore on a winding drive along the St. Lawrence River and through First Nation coastal communities. By National Geographic with Destination Canada;

Other UNESCO World Heritage Sites you Should Visit

World Heritage Sites in the Americas

• Sian Ka’an Biosphere in Mexico: where the sun was born;
• The Everglades: both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve;
• The Statue of Liberty in New York City, USA;
• Take an Alaska cruise and visit Glacier Bay National Park;
• Go watch whales in Quebec City;
• Puerto Rico Does it Better! Old San Juan and fun facts about Puerto Rico

World Heritage Sites in Europe

• Paris around the Seine;
• Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam: right in the middle of the historic Canals District;
• Passau, Germany, often the start or end of a Danube river cruise;
• Matera, Italy: the oldest continually habituated place in the world, also called the City of Caves;

Pin Watching Whales in Quebec City

Pin this for later and share with your friend. What an amazing bucket list item this is!