WHAT A DAY
While I have previously talked about September oftentimes being a month of surprises, today was one of these days which kept on giving and surprising - from early to late!
Those who decided to wake up extra early this morning to join our first departures were soon rewarded by our first surprise visitor of the day: a blue whale! Constantly travelling north, the individual didn't stay in the bay for too long, still we were able to get some great looks at it.
Those who decided to sleep in and join us around noon instead were surprised by our next visitors: a pod of long-finned pilot whales! Heading south at first, also they would soon turn around in search for deeper waters and the open sea, which is why we had to say goodbye to them again sometime in the afternoon.
However, also those who only arrived in the late afternoon and joined our last departures of the day were rewarded. Not too long after the appearance of the pilot whales, two fin whales were spotted that then continued to head south and in to the bay. While one decided to go its own way, the second individual stayed in the same area for several hours, allowing us all to observe it better. Unlike the blue whale in the early morning, it wasn't in any rush, but would calmly surface and dive just some few miles out of Húsavík.
Besides all these surprise visitors today, of course also our beloved humpback whales were around and as usual, a great delight to spot and observe. In several occasions, even a minke whale would suddenly appear out of nowhere as if bridging the time until the humpback would return from its current dive.
- Sarah
Photo Blue whale: Sarah Arndt
Photo Long-finned pilot whales: Koen Hoekemeijer
