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.