AKSEL HAS RETURNED – THIS TIME AS HEAD GUIDE
After three years as a whale watching guide by Gentle Giants he took a one-year break and went lump fishing with his dad in Norway. Now Aksel Bjarnason is back in Húsavík, his second home – this time as our head guide.
Already as a small child Aksel was standing by the shore, looking for whales from land. The first whale encounter he remembers was during a fishing tour with his father at the age of eleven, off the coast of Norway. What he first thought was driftwood suddenly sprayed a blow and raised its flukes up in the air for a deep dive. It was a sperm whale and this encounter made a big impression on Aksel.
– When I first started working as a whale watching guide by Gentle Giants, it was a dream coming true. People have been out here on Skjálfandi Bay for centuries, experiencing its amazing wildlife but through our whale watching tours it is now accessible to anyone – not only the locals, he says.
Aksel is half Norwegian, half Icelandic but feels more like home in our town than in Tromsö where he was brought up. His grandfather was a fisherman in Húsavík and taught Aksel's father how to fish. Aksel in his turn learnt the tradition from his father – like so often through Icelandic generations.
When asked what he hopes for during this whale watching season, Aksel says that except for good weather and lots of whales in the bay, he wishes that tourists who come here will feel like home in our town too.
– I am also looking forward to the great atmosphere that always develops within the team during the season, when we turn into a little family of whale and sea enthusiasts, he says.
Text and photos: Alexia
Head guide Aksel and Halli (captain/maintenance) on board our RIB speedboat Amma Helga, before preparing for the first tour of the day.