He was filling petrol at the gas station, like so many times before. Humming on a song he just heard on the radio. Fisherman as he is, he looked out over Skjálfandi bay as a habit and scanned the horizon to check the conditions, peering his eyes due to the wind. That was when it happened. He saw a huge white splash on the other side of the bay – far out, but there was no doubt. Captain Hlynur knew what he saw; the affect of a jumping humpback...

Captain Bessi, onboard Faldur, was just about to leave the harbour for the afternoon trip when he was reached by a call from Hlynur. The captains talked together. Bessi got directions on how to find that gentle giant which had caused the amazing splash, visible from town. And off we went – together with a group of passengers from all over the world.

Only smaller whales had been found during the morning so we did not put any high expectations. But 25 minutes passed and suddenly a humpback couple was right in front of us (the same ones which were here some days ago).

No one knew why they chose to come back into the bay, or how long they would stay. But there and then, that did not matter. The wind was strong, the waves were wild and the whole scene got even more dramatic when one of the humpbacks sprung its back part out of the water. That allowed us to see every detail on the whale’s body and that agile movement caused a great splash. It must have been that humpback Hlynur – from land - saw jumping earlier.

Húsavík is the town where you can do daily chores and at the same time be reminded of how powerful the whales are...

Photo: Julian Eichhoff, Germany

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