Sunday, 21 July 2024

Whale, whale, whale— we have been expecting you,

This morning we had very calm weather, with overcast skies and dreamy conditions on the Fjord. We headed north from Akureyri towards Hjalteyri and found the action north of there! We enjoyed watching 3 Humpback Whales, 2 of them feeding side by side and giving us a great view of their rostrums. Our friendly whale Piccolo was one of the feeding whales and he was friendly as usual and came close to us for a couple very beautiful encounters. We were also so thrilled to see lots of amazing bird life. We even saw Puffins and Razor Bills! We rarely get to see them, so it was a real treat as there were many.

Our afternoon took an exciting turn as the wind picked up and we heard news that the rare Northern Bottlenose Whale was spotted in the Fjord. We set off on a mission to try to see them and it paid off— we saw the blows and dorsal fins near Svalbardseyri! We believe we were seeing a pod of at least 5 of these magnificent whales. We also identified 4 of them as male and we had very close encounters with them swimming alongside us. This felt like a once in a lifetime experience that we are so grateful for. We also saw 2 Humpback Whales near Hauganes, and one was pec-slapping. Wow— what more can we ask for??
In the evening, we saw more surface feeding, breaching and pec slapping of three Humpback Whales as well as the Northern Bottlenose Whales!

Today was truly an amazing day— the kind of days that we live for as whale watchers.

Text & Photos: Lindsey, Cheyenne & David

Departures: Classic - 0900, 1000, 1300, 1400, 1700 & 2030. Express - 1000, 1400 & 2100 O’Clock