Sunday, 14 July 2024

Hello fellow whale-watchers,

Another week is going to be over soon and we are experiencing calmer weather conditions. Sunday seems to be the perfect day to go whale-watching - especially after Friday and Saturday’s weather that was mimicking the hangover mood of those who went to have a few drinks in the evening.

We as usual had a few boats departing in the morning and after not being able to sail out a few times during the last days due to weather, we did not know what we are going to find. The hítabylgja (heat wave) has been melting a lot of snow lately and the fjord is now full of sediment and nutrients. Visibility in the water is very poor, which means that the wildlife will react to it.

We found our first Humpback Whale around Hjalteyri and then it swam away North, another of our boats managed to spot one more Humpback Whale just North of Svalbarðseyri. This whale is very well known to us and we have been waiting for it to show up for some time now, it was first spotted around the shores of Iceland in March 2022. We named this whale Proppie, but was also called Piero on Happywhale.com or Brave Pelo as well. See the pictures to see a big healed scar, which helps us identify this whale.

The afternoon has turned out to be even smoother than the morning. We made our way past Hjalteyri and met a few Harbour Porpoises and then right next to Grenivík, we found our first great whales - Minke Whales, two of them. Just a few minutes later we also got to see our Humpback Whale (Proppie) which we had been observing in the morning. so there we were, with turned-off engines. Just floating in between those mesmerising giants.

We have one more departure tonight at 20:30 - feel free to join!

Text & Pictures: David, Yoann

Departures: Classic Tours: 0900, 1000, 1300 & 2030 o’clock. Express Tours: 10:00 & 14:00 o’clock