This past week, our boat Athena took 6 lovely passengers from Estonia on a sea-angling tour on a beautiful, sunny summer day, where the "catch-of-the-day" was a 5kg cod! Skjálfandi bay is not only a wonderful place for whales, but it is also a fantastic fishing ground.
The past weeks blue whales have been showing up more or less daily. But today we got a very special surprise out at sea: A blue whale mother showed up with her calf. Blue whale calves stay with their mother for at least a year.
The past days of whale watching continued successful: Blue Whales keep on showing up daily, often several of them in the same areas. The other day we got to see two blue whales and some humpbacks feeding near to each other.
This past week, students participating in the University of Iceland's Marine Mammals course joined us to practice their whale research skills. These students have come from countries all over the world to study in Iceland and participate in this course held annually through the University of Iceland's Húsavík Research Centre.
We just received news from our captain Ingimar that our RIB boat found another blue whale in the bay on our Big Whale Safari tour! The blue whale excitement continues for us here at Gentle Giants, as another blue whale has been spotted making a pit-stop in the bay on its way to the Arctic.
Many people might wonder if we never get tired of watching whales. Just to let you know: WE DON'T, NOT AT ALL! The other day has been one of these many amazing whale watching trips. A beautiful day was waiting for us out in the bay, but of course we know that weather conditions and spotting whales don´t go hand in hand.
Today the Gentle Giants team welcomed the passengers of the Iceland ProCruises ship and took them on a tour of beautiful Flatey, the "Flat Island". All 130 passengers came to Flatey and learnt about the island's rich history of fishing and farming, and its current use as a summer paradise.
There have been at least three blue whales seen on our tours yesterday and today, and one of them is believed to be the "hybrid" whale! The giant blue whales are continuing to visit the bay these days on their way to the Artic.
Last week some of our Gentle Giants team attended the IceWhale seminar at the Húsavík Whale Museum and listened to many interesting talks about "Economical impacts of whale watching and development of harbour areas".
To sum up, May has been a really successful month:We spotted loads of humpback whales within the past weeks – for many days we counted about 15 to 20 individuals on the tours. Many of them have been seen feeding, breaking the surface with a mouth filled up with food.
