been known to
winter.The entire Gulf of
St.Lawrence has approximately 200,000,which is a small population com- pared to most species of
seals.As special as this sight is, less than 1% of all park visitors venture off the mainland to these islands. This weekend with the help of a sea kayak touring company, Kayakouch Inc.,my family and I have come to this little-known paddling destination to live with the terns and the seals and we have the place all to ourselves. Owners, Victor Savoie and Nicole Daigle, base their
terns and grey seals
trips from their kayak shop on Main Street of Saint-Louis- de-Kent,New
Brunswick.Victor is the assistant head her- itage interpreter at Kouchibouguac National Park and Nicole is a national park interpreter. For three consecu- tive years Victor and Nicole have won the Savvy Traveller Award for their guided sea kayaking adventures in seal country. Most of Kayakouch’s customers opt for an early morning departure with a half-day tour of the Tern Islands and the grey seals. Only a handful choose our multi-day tour. We begin our trip this morning by paddling eight kilo-
metres down the Kouchibouguasis River from Kayakouch Outdoor Adventure
Shop.At the end of our day,we will end up at a primitive campground at Pointe-a-Maxime located at the mouth of the Kouchibouguasis River, which means Little Sister of
Kouchibouguac.The nation- al park has set aside half a dozen campsites for paddlers with an outhouse, fire pit, and picnic table. All potable water and supplies must be boated
in.Paddlers use these sites as a base camp for day trips or an overnight recluse for a weekend mini-vacation. By the time we reach
camp, all that separates us from the barrier dunes where the terns and seals live is the
Up to five hundred grey seals arrive
in
Kouchibouguac in June when the ice breaks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and stay until early
November.They are the largest of the four species of seals living in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with males reaching 900 pounds and females up to 500
pounds.There are only a few places to see these uncom- mon seals called marine wolves for their night-time bark- ing and
howling.Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia is also a good place to see them where up to 10,000 have
If you go...
Nicole and Victor are the owners of Kayakouch Inc. and l’Oasis Acadienne Bed & Breakfast. Saint-Louis-de-Kent, New Brunswick 506.876.1199
www.kayakouch.com
Kouchibouguac is a national park. Contact Parks Canada for more information. 800.414.6765
www.parkscanada.com
ADVENTUREkayakmag.com 27
photo by Nicole Daigle
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52