Putep ‘t-awt

A stunning new trail and observatory in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, overlooking the St. Lawrence Estuary close to where it flows into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean, opened on Canada’s National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21, 2024). The waters are vital calving, feeding, and breeding grounds for the endangered beluga whales that give birth here between June and September, and the Putep ‘t-awt viewing area is the result of a years-in-the-making partnership between the indigenous Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk First Nation and Quebec-based marine mammal research and education organizations. (The name Putep ‘t-awt means Beluga Trail in the Wolastoqey language.) The first land-based beluga observation site on the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River, the deck and research center sit atop Gros-Cacouna mountain and are free to visit. They were built above estuary waters to reduce the impacts of scientific and tourist activities on the belugas; there are thought to be only 1,850 of the animals remaining in these waters, and the chance to see them—even from on high—is a thrill. The project is the first phase of a larger initiative that will ultimately create a public park and cultural center on nearby property acquired by the Wolastoqiyik. The site itself is considered sacred: Gros-Cacouna was long a gathering place and navigational aid along the route to Tadoussac, a First Nations trading post. When you see belugas passing in the waters below Putep ‘t-awt, you may feel moved by these lands, too.

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