It's the third season I'm guiding for Gentle Giants. Year by year I wished to spot killer whales one day. But that day never came.Then, a few days ago, we were heading out on our RIB Amma Sigga when another captain was saying via the radio that they found a pod of orcas.
Today, 17th June, is Iceland’s national day. Many locals joined the annual parade through town or took the children pony riding while we celebrated on the bay with - amongst other whales - this very acrobatic humpback.
Thanks to a course in marine mammal science from the University of Iceland, 23 students with different nationalities have got the chance to do research on our wild whales in Skjálfandi Bay. Marianne Rasmussen, who is an experienced marine mammal scientist based in Húsavík and also the administrator of this annual course, teaches the students on different ways of doing research on marine mammals.
Today the Húsavík Whale Museum officially opened an exhibition showing the outcome of last winter’s “whale school”. That is an annual project where local children get to learn about the gentle giants of the ocean.
Our bay is not only great for whale watching, it is perfect for bird watching too. The peaceful islands located in Skjálfandi Bay, like Flatey, is in the summer home to more than 30 species of nesting birds.
The past days have been shaped by several different species of whales including some that are rather seldom in Skjálfandi Bay.Especially one tour will always stick in my memory:We were heading out on our RIB boat Amma Kibba.
Is it clear that Skjálfandi bay is a heaven for life. In late spring the water starts to get warm, the ice is melting and all the nutrients appear on the sea surface. Consequently, plankton, krill and small fishes, which especially baleen whales feed on, are coming up.
A group of five sperm whales were encountered on our 12:30 Big Whale Safari tour today. This is extremely unique and one of the very, very few times in our history that it has ever happened.Our captain Sverrir said that the sperm whales dived for quite some time but once they re-surfaced they also stayed up for several minutes.
The other day we had a school group from the USA joining a GG2 Big Whale Safari & Puffins tour. 19 youths between the ages of 12 and 14 went out on two RIBs in pursuit of whales, puffins and thrilling speed on sea level.
May has been a super succesful month with many whales of all sizes and happy people - both crew and passengers.We are now ready to speed up a bit, and welcome June through increasing to nine daily departures: GG1 Whale Watching: The traditional tour on our oak boats.
