In the past couple of weeks we have been lucky enough to see not only one, but two mother and calf pairs in the bay! The first pair sighted was an incredibly large humpback whale mother feeding in the north of the bay with a calf sticking close by her side.
During the summer time in the bay, we are sometimes able to witness the impressive humpback whale feeding behaviour known as “lunge-feeding”. Lunge-feeding is a technique used by large baleen whales, such as the humpback whale, as an efficient way to eat a lot of prey at once.
Throughout the past days blue whales have been sighted on several of our departures.
When it comes to whale watching, no two tours are the same. Whales change their behaviour so quickly and especially humpback whales are able to show off in very different ways. Throughout the month we were able to watch them feeding actively, socialise with other individuals or showing their power and acrobatic skills by slapping flippers or tail onto the surface as well as by breaching out of the water.
Yesterday, 17th of June, was Iceland's National Day. The sun was shining and the sea was calm, reflecting the blue sky and sun. Whales were spotted all over they bay, the first ones only a short sailing time away from the harbor.
Since Saturday, the annual University of Iceland “studying marine mammals in the wild” course has been taking place in Husavik. Students come both from Icelandic universities and from abroad for the week long course, and Gentle Giants is happy to participate in this again this year.
Our newest RIB speed boat named "Amma Jóhanna" has arrived to Húsavík on the 2nd of June in the early evening. As our other RIBs, the boat is a customised production built by Techno Marine Sp. z o.o.
Since our season started in the beginning of April, orcas have been encountered on our tours surprisingly and especially unusually often. However, yesterday they certainly took it to the next level: A pod of about 20 individuals – consisting of at least one new-born, several young calves and juveniles as well as grown up females and huge males - showed up all around our boats which were out at sea at that time.
For the first time this season the cruise ship Ocean Diamond (operated by Iceland ProCruises) has visited Húsavík and passengers joined our whale watching tour as in previous years. On time also a humpback whale named Orien arrived in Skjálfandi Bay.
Continuing on with the great trend that we have been seeing this Spring/Icelandic Summer, more orcas (killer whales) have just been spotted by our RIB Amma Kibba on the GG2 - Big Whale Safari and Puffins tour! Usually very rare visitors to our bay, we have been lucky to have already spotted them several times this season, and it never gets less exciting to see them! -Charla Researcher/Guide Photos: Charla Basran
