Thursday, 15 December 2016

Feeding frenzy in Eyjafjördur! When we were sailing out today under a clouded, but dry sky with only a little wind, we were not expecting to see this, humpback whales feeding in all their glory for 1 ½ hours straight. We found the whales in about the same area where we had left them last Friday, between Hjalteyri and Hauganes. The blows of 5 humpback whales close together were easy to spot and we immediately realised that the whales were on to something. They were swimming at high speed, close to the surface, circling around and not going for deep dives. When the first open jaw popped out of the water to gulp huge amounts of water and food, we were stunned and we would get to see this behaviour many more times. Besides the group of 5, we saw at least 2-3 other individuals in the distance. However, the collaborated filter feeding of the 5 was so interesting that we decided to spend most of our time with them. Loftur, King Louis and Inkblot (last seen in September!) were part of the group who seemed to work together to herd the food together and then feed on it simultaneously. When it was time for us to head back, the whales were still feeding. Must have been good food out there in the fjord today for humpback whales. Simply a fantastic winter day in Eyjafjördur!

- Pictures and Text by Barbara Neubarth