With the fog lifting off the coast and capelin swirling just beneath the surface, the waters around Trinity Bay sometimes offer up a special kind of morning. That’s when Joe, the barrel-chested wanderer of Newfoundland’s bays, sweeps into view.
Back in August of 2013, Joe made a grand appearance in Witless Bay, letting the sunshine glint on his broad back. His visits aren’t a regular song—they’re more like jazz, filled with surprises and intervals that keep folks guessing. For six full years, Joe slipped out of sight, perhaps somewhere out beyond the horizon, until August of 2019 brought him popping up in Trinity Bay with a splash and a spray.
By the summer of 2020, Joe clearly grew fond of these waters, dotting his trail from Spaniards Cove to Trinity Bight, English Harbour, and Bonaventure Head. Almost as if he conducted a little tour, weaving his way from cove to cove over days filled with sunshine and fogbanks.
Recent years have been good to those keeping watch from shore. In August 2023, he graced Trinity Bay again—then July of 2024 saw not one but a series of Joe’s visits. From Tinker’s Point to the approaches near St. John’s and down southwest of Green Island, Joe’s path drew a watery line across the charts. His route hints at a big, blue appetite and a love of the rocky Newfoundland coastline.
Have you seen Joe on your coastal rambles? If you do, send along your sightings and photos! Your eyes help knit together Joe’s story and shine a light on curious gaps in the whale trail—each note another clue in the sea’s big song.
Fun Fact
During their summer feeding season, a humpback whale can eat over one tonne of fish and krill every day. No wonder they have the energy for such epic journeys.
Joe’s Sightings
Witless Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
August 7, 2013
Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
August 17, 2019
Off Spaniards Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
July 23, 2020
Area off Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
July 24, 2020
This is Happywhale's real data for this whale. The story above was generated based on these details, and a few creative assumptions.
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By submitting to Happywhale, your sighting can become part of Joe's data. Not only will it make their story richer for the next time they're spotted, but you'll become part of a global citizen science effort to better understand our oceans and the humpback whales that call them home.