Monday, 30 December 2024
Hello all whale lovers,
Today we sailed from the harbor at -14 degrees Celsius and no wind. I love this weather. In this weather you will not only see the whale better but also hear its exhalation. Whales have ,,slightly,,:-) larger lungs than humans, so you can hear and see their exhalation..With each breath, whales replace up to 90% of the air in their lungs - we humans only just exchange 10-15% each time we breathe.
A blue whale's lungs for example hold up to 5000 litres, meaning it might exchange up to 4500 litres per breath. When exhaling, the air is expelled at high speeds - at up to 600km/h in the case of the blue whale!Whales have a similar body temperature as us humans, of about 37°C. The equally warm air in their lungs condenses upon contact with the colder outside air and forms a white cloud of mist.
But what's in a blow? Apart from moist air, the whale also exhales mucus and bacteria (in fact, the breathing is better compared to our sneezing) as well as seawater and oil droplets from the upper respiratory tract and the top of the blowholes. And all this was happening in front of our eyes while whale watching...
And where did we find the whales today? One of our two Humpback whale friends stayed in the harbor.. And we know our whale friend very well.. It was Picolo.. Scratches on his body and a beautiful white fin... he surfaced so close to the boat that we had the opportunity to see his majestic size.. Picolo was hungry and filling his belly.. we saw how the birds took advantage of the fact that the whale brought them fish to the water surface... Picolo appeared very regularly, so I and the guests could see him in more detail and notice the whale's behavior. On one of the boat's sides, a Harbor seal also came to look at us... He watched us as if he couldn't believe how big was the thing/our boat on the water's surface. Then he disappeared under the water's surface.
The whole time we were surrounded by fog, which formed just above the surface of the water and created a very impressive, almost mystical atmosphere.
An amazing day full of beautiful natural scenery and wild animals.
Pictures & Text: Lenka
Departure of the day: 11:00 o’clock Classic Tour.