Quebec ..., and this is Tadoussac
Leave the road 362, to take the 138 again, after having forked to the right on a bridge that crosses the Malbaie (the river). And daring little guy! New ascent to assault the Canadian Shield that can be found on the cliffs overlooking the river, since we have just left the astrobleme.
Apart from the immense and omnipresent river, one sees from the road only a few villages crossed. Immediately after the first climb. A curious steeple as sharp as a pencil lead perched on a modern skeleton bell tower emerges alone above the horizon, a bit like the white houses on the ridges of Santorini; it is that of the church of Cap à l'Aigle. The other side is here more than 20 km as the crow flies.
Then shortly after St-Fidèle , its elegant church and its presbytery which dominate the houses of the village on their modest hill.
Further away To St-Siméon, the valley of the Black River is buried under a wool of mist which unraveled and also masks the St-Laurent.
Then the road goes away from the river, hugs the bumps relief, barely sinuous, calling for adventure like a transcontinental. We walk along as many times one of these very many lakes which pierce the Shield.
Finally before arriving at Sainte-Catherine, the road gradually regains the river.
From the heights of what is now a cliff, we reach the promontory which dominates to the south the mouth of the great Saguenay River, from where, it is said, we can sometimes see the great cetaceans of the river.
And here we are just after hurtling down the road that goes down to the ferry dock, since no bridge exists to reach Tadoussac on the other side. Like everyone else, we line up wisely in the queue; the couple of small ferries make the round trip with a beautiful synchronism, one in one direction the other in the other, oiled ballet every 20 minutes, almost without other noise than the horn blows mist.
Because a layer of fog muffles the noises a bit, floats above water and makes the ferry an emerging ghost ship suddenly mysteriously thick white cotton.
Several bridge projects were rejected and still give rise to controversy at the end of 2016, questioning the corporatism of ferries.
Some people want to promote, for example, a suspension bridge like the one in Hardanger in Norway .
Should we regret it in the current situation? The only passage by boat imposes fact a regulation which perhaps preserves the authenticity of the site. In any case in a much more peaceful way than, for example, the blasting of private homes along the Corsican coast ... But the long line of trucks loaded with wood to Sainte-Catherine is perhaps getting impatient.
And here we are at this new stopover.
Our accommodation is set back from the river bank at " Domaine des Dunes », A Swiss-run resort which offers places for camping in tents, others for motorhomes, and superb small, very well-equipped chalets spread over the slopes of a hill.
The one we chose, named " Crested ducks »Towards the top of the hill is only accessible by a very steep half-asphalt, half-gravel track into which you have to launch the vehicle. Through a gap in the forest made up mainly of birch trees, we can see part of the bay of Tadoussac in the distance.
Perfect and modern equipment, including a bathtub whose Jacusi function seems a little useless and a wood stove "for fun" (since the electric heating is perfect, easily adjustable, of an enviable efficiency compared to our Parisian apartments ...).
From the information panels of the ornithological park: " The St. Lawrence estuary here has a depth that can exceed 300m. It receives the fresh water from the river on the surface and in depth the cold and salty waters of the gulf. The mixing between these which rise towards the surface and the fresh water attracts marine mammals and allows a great availability of prey on the surface for several species of seabirds (150 species here) ". This is what makes the attraction of this park just to the north along the shore, which towers over the river waters and the mudflats at their foot from its rocky heights, in the pouring rain.
Obviously, birds protect themselves from the rain and don't show up.
Under a very changeable sky, Tadoussac, the very small village makes its coquette, spreads its colors even in the rain, then suddenly dries up and bursts of beautiful contrasts when the sun comes and the unique and vibrant purity of light.
Both the old Protestant chapel and the oldest Catholic church with a red roof on the small bay which is also the port, the old and still present prestigious hotel next to the latter, " Hotel Tadoussac », Make for a remarkably picturesque setting. We wanders on foot on paths that go deep into the undergrowth or on small asphalt roads, passing also in front of beautiful old houses now lodges, each of which seems to have a history (example the "Hovington house").
The beautiful route through and around the rocky promontory jutting south from the mouth is a rare moment of serenity. Contemplation of a very authentic nature which can be seen in its wild and peaceful splendor, on heaps of eroded rocks which are each a natural work of art.
The various small shops, some cafes and restaurants with warm indoors still display beautiful terraces despite a chilly temperature, but are surrounded by rather flashy advertisements or very strong representations the ancient Amerindian presence and the marine mammals that inhabit the estuary.
We also note that even the most impressive wildlife lives in the area: a line of cars stopped along the small road that leads from our accommodation to Tadoussac intrigued us one day.
Before going along a golf course wet with dew, beyond a few forest fields a little cultivated laterally, on the edge of a dark and thick forest which is storming the hill, a group of young people saw a black bear who rambled.
We ourselves will not see it.
In Quebec, belugas here, ... but not there!
As we have seen, the mouth of the Saguenay and its confluence with the St. Lawrence is an environment very conducive to the diversity of fauna.
A little upstream, the Sainte-Marguerite river flows obliquely onto the Saguenay river and its fjord.
Further, by road which meanders away from the river by the north bank, it is the village of Sacré-Cœur, commonplace and unattractive, which marks a stage on the harsh and low plateau, where farms follow one another in a landscape that one guesses very inhospitable, even deadly in the harshness of winter.
We are then in Baie-Sainte-Marguerite, a protected site from which we can access the Saguenay after a little over 3km Steps. The landscaped course sometimes crosses plank passages in the middle of clumps of white bark of vigorous birch trees and clearings with silver moss wet with ferns, along short heights of dripping rocks, reveals small islands or low spurs covered with dark thorns which form black and white images on the water, finally revealing a belvedere on the silted mouth of the river of the same name.
Along this path, with good educational efforts, scattered panels tell the story of the region before and after the arrival of the French. Hard life when man came to exploit the forest wealth, only to abandon it at the beginning of the 20th century.
About his anatomy: his " melon », This prominence which makes him like a big nose, more swollen than that of certain dolphins for example, allows it to locate itself by echolocation in deep and dark waters or under the ice with astonishing efficiency; its short dorsal fin can break up to 8 cm thick ice. Adult (between 8 and 14 years) at sexual maturity, it takes its white color after having seen all colors, or almost: coffee with milk at birth then gray-blue around 2 years old.
It can live up to 60 years and measures 3 to 5 m with a weight of just under 2 tons. The species is threatened ; the female gives birth only once every 3 years or so and gives birth to a single calf at a time after a gestation period of 58 weeks.
There were about 1,100 in this estuary in 2003 (how many today ??), for 8,000 to 10,000 in 1885.
Because in the years 1920-30, they were called " white demons ". The fishermen regarded them as gluttons of the sea, believing that they swallowed tons of salmon and cod interfering with the commercial fishery. Which then gave rise to a real eradication campaign; yet today we know that this was not the case and that they were not the voracious ones that we thought. Hunting (and not fishing) was banned.
But today, he is exposed to marine pollution, with a cancer rate close to that of humans.
Too late therefore perhaps to make it " the sacred cetacean of the St. Lawrence », Even if the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park protects it with care since 2002.
The variety of sounds emitted make it named " the sea canary ".
For its part, Baie-Sainte-Marguerite with its sandy shoals, soft and less cold water, food (small fish and invertebrates), is suitable for giving birth and raising young.
Then arrived on the rocky shore very wild, other panels unroll information on these small marine mammals, a variety of cetaceans called " belugas "Characterized by their white color. But weary, there are no belugas, despite careful and long scrutiny of the waters. And for good reason, it is in summer that they come to frolic there.
Only elsewhere will we see a few white backs, sporadic like tiny ivory reefs, the next day's rainy morning in the mist of the river from a cruise ship leaving from Tadoussac.
Yet the fate of the Saguenay (or St. Lawrence) belugas is original: this arctic species finds boreal conditions in the St. Lawrence estuary that are almost consistent with their original natural environment. Happy coincidence, because during the last glaciation 8000 years ago, these populations were cut off from their native arctic environment; and have come to terms with the current environment .
So here we have the most southerly beluga populations on the planet.
The rest live in the Yukon, Hudson Bay, Behring Sea, Beaufort Sea ... and are still hunted by Norway and Japan, which can be relied on to repopulate .
Its name comes from the Russian "beloye" which means "white".
Of course, it was the Russians, to add to the clarity, who also gave this name to a famous variety of sturgeon, the largest white sturgeon in the world and renowned for the quality of its caviar; therefore endangered, and known as "beluga sturgeon". Not to be confused, therefore, with the hummingbird of the St.Lawrence seas ... which is not a fish, but a cetacean mammal, capable of making small belugas, but not caviar.
Tadoussac, icy mouth of the Saguenay, discreet cetaceans
You should know how to choose your time (the agenda), depending on the weather (the climate). Exercise in which we do not excel ... at all.
In any case, the feeling of the wet cold from the previous evening had prompted us not to embark on the cetacean cruise in a Zodiac in the St. Lawrence estuary facing Tadoussac. We did well since a couple of young Belgians had their order canceled. reservation because of too deep sea, formed as the sailors say. We were well informed of the icy effect of the winds on the estuary, and of the temperatures well differentiated from those of the coast.
So, cautiously, we book a cruise in one of these boats capable of accommodating up to 750 people, choosing the half day in the morning (heads or tails) rather than the afternoon.
By appointment, driving rain at the edge of the quay. But no one other than us, or almost. Délice ... Then the buses disembark, several buses which in fact come to fill the boat, Quebecers, English-speaking Canadians and Americans, French less noisy than usual ....
Set off for the wide estuary with its discreet sound but well supported by maneuvering diesel engines, here we are in search of marine life through the mist, ourselves carefully protected inside the thick windows that the crew comes to coat a product that delays the formation of fogging. Rain, fog, icy wind, it's all there! This does not prevent some, very well dressed, or those to whom the young age brings its blood flow, to carry on the passageways outside, obscuring of course the vision of those who remain inside.
Finally, here and there, there are seals of which only his head emerges, curious as the cows that watched the steam trains before, who come on their backs to laugh at the passage of these frozen humans who observe them. Despite the noise of the engines which stop, resume, seeking THE spectacle according to the experience of the lookout and the captain.
Near the entrance to Tadoussac Bay, thin and fleeting white spindles emerge here and there: "a gang" of discreet beluga whales that are too discreet.
Even in this weather, the birds scurry over the surface, brush against it, seem to play it, but especially watch the benches in the swirling eddies. Barely visible through the fog, we finally make out the famous Prince shoal lighthouse, standing ghost which looks like a huge chalice thick-footed (photo useless that day).
Finally, great crowd movement and cries on the outer deck: a modest A school of small cetaceans splits the surface of the water without hurrying with their shiny black dorsals, without feeling the slightest enthusiasm and even less leaping with joy above the waves. "Y has other seasons for that; we are not going to put on a show for them! "the whales say to each other, jaded. Here very modest, probably pilot whales ?
A scientist provides a number of comments on the context, but sometimes difficult to hear; his speech deserves a document bringing together all this good information.
So barely glimpsed, the fauna of the estuary ...
However, a few weeks before our arrival, a humpback whale nearly overturned a Zodiac by resurfacing. Maybe she just wanted to play with her distant mammal cousins.
Poor record for us, but a very interesting experience. TO When, however, electric boats, which would be there, as on all world cetacean observation sites and whatever the latitudes, much more discreet and respectful of these marine populations? We are indeed often well below the 400 m imposed by local regulations; but it is true how, in this disparate mist, to see without approaching?
In 1705, the Jesuit father Charlevoix observed from his boat "the Hero", anchored near Tadoussac, 4 whales " which were almost the length of his vessel ".
Then, like a picnic, the sky suddenly lights up a little after we touch ground; the afternoon will be emollient and sumptuous in color like a bright future, after this episode hostile, astringent and drowned in the monochrome of shades of gray.
