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Scenes from a Research Expedition to the Strait of Belle Isle

By Karl Phillips

July 29, 2026

iceberg
We probably averaged two icebergs per day, but this one on July 6 was easily the best: it was large, well shaped, came close to shore, and hosted a decent haul of gulls for a sense of scale.

Editor's Note: Between July 1 and July 10, data scientist Karl Phillips and biologist Heather Perry—both of ASF's Research & Environment team—worked the Strait of Belle Isle, fishing to intercept wild post-smolts at ocean entry with special surface trawl nets. While they didn't have much luck, they learned a lot that will help with future attempts. (See Rivernotes July 16, 2026.) While on the expedition, Karl took some wonderful photos that capture the local landscape, history, culture, and fauna. Karl and Heather would like to re-state their gratitude to Chester Davis, Carl Hedderson and Jonathan Walsh, for their company and as sources of information.

 

All photos by Karl Phillips

 

battery
“The Battery” cliffs of the northeastern shore of the bay at L’Anse-au-Loup. A section of the Labrador Pioneer Footpath runs across its top.
HMSRaleigh
The HMS Raleigh, a 605-foot Royal Navy heavy cruiser, ran aground in L’Anse Amour on August 8, 1922. Twelve sailors died. The wreck was partially demolished in 1926.
schooner
Schooner Cove, 3 km along the coast from L’Anse-au-Loup, is barely 400 meters across, yet its archaeology carries samples of much of humanity’s interactions with the South Labrador Coast. This includes the "Maritime Archaic" period of 7000-8000 years ago. (See the L’Anse-Amour burial mound below), the Basque whalers of the 16th Century (better known from the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Red Bay, 50 km north), and the remains of a whale processing plant from the 1900s.
pointamour
Standing 33 meters tall, Point Amour lighthouse is Canada’s second tallest, after Cap-des-Rosiers, Gaspé, Quebec. According to the Southern Labrador Development Association, the “Amour” of Point Amour and L’Anse-Amour is not the "amour" of love, but a corruption of “aux Morts,” meaning "of the dead"—an apparent reference to the many lives of sailors that the area has claimed in shipwrecks.
burial-mound
It would be very easy to drive past what ought to be one of the most famous works of human hands in Canada: L’Anse-Amour burial mound—raised over the remains of a teenager approximately 7,500 years ago—is, to date, the oldest known funerary monument in the lands today known as the Americas.
reefs
Archaeocyathid reefs: These tessellated "stepping stones" are the remains of Archaeocyathids, a group of reef-building sponge-like animals that became extinct by about 485 million years ago.
capelin
A male (left) and female (right) capelin. The male’s lateral ridges help him take a strong position beside a female when she releases her eggs. Our fieldwork overlapped with the annual capelin fishing period, and our captain and his crew were up considerably earlier than us every day, in order to assist their colleagues with emptying nets and landing catches.
orcas
A group of at least four Orcas, seen in the Strait on July 7. Orcas in the Northwest Atlantic have a mammal-biased diet, and their appearance may account for the sudden and rapid departure of the group of white-beaked dolphins that had been hanging out around our boat’s bow.
whitebeaked
White-beaked dolphins are slightly larger than common dolphins, and more round-faced. This group of approximately six individuals spent 10 minutes around our boat on the afternoon of July 7.
humpback
One of a group of three humpback whales nearby, we saw this one around lunchtime on July 7. Humpbacks are highly migratory, typically mating and giving birth in the tropics, whilst doing most of their feeding at higher latitudes.
gannet
Gannets are regular companions out in the Strait, looking for the opportunity to grab an easy meal when fishing gear is brought aboard. We were, unfortunately, not treated to any of their famous 100 km/h plunge dives.
mixedauks
Mixed auks: From left to right, a razorbill (known locally as “turrs”), a common murre (“common guillemot” to birders from the other side of the Atlantic), and a puffin. We also saw thick-billed murres (a.k.a. “Brünnich’s guillemot”) during our work, though not as many as of these three. From autumn to spring, the area hosts little auks (also known as “dovekies” or, locally, “bull birds”) by the hundreds. Three hundred years ago, there would probably have been a sixth auk around: the extinct, flightless great auk.
skua
Parasitic jaeger/Arctic skua: Known by the former name in North America and the latter across the Atlantic. A high-arctic breeder that probably made an early departure from its breeding grounds, en route to the Southern Hemisphere for our winter. All jaegers/skuas are piratical, robbing other seabirds of their food. This one spent a bit of time harassing a herring gull, but didn’t seem to get anything from it.
petrel
Wilson’s storm-petrel: In the Northern Hemisphere, we’re used to birds that go south for our winter, but we’re less familiar with Southern Hemisphere birds that come north for their winter. Wilson’s storm-petrel is one of them, typically spending the late summer in the Northwest Atlantic before looping back down to their breeding grounds on islands around Antarctica. The name “Petrel” is from “St Peter”—a reference to their hovering style that gives the impression of walking on water.