This season we have been luckier with both whales and weather than we remember any year before, though the last days have not been quite as successful as we are now used to. Of course (as we tell everyone who asks) nature is unpredictable and the conditions in the bay change really fast.
Sometimes our guides manage to capture and keep unforgettable moments through getting them on photo - moments shared with our passengers on board. We would like to share with you some random ones which have been taken during the summer which will always be remembered as The Amazing Humpback Season 2012..
So far today we have seen several (around five) humpback whales on every tour, whereof some even showed their most acrobatic moves. Second guide Daniel just gave me a report from the 13:15 tour where one of their humpbacks had jumped.
The first week of August has been just as amazing as the rest of the season so far. Today Húsavík is enjoying 20°c, sunshine and a bay full of whales. Not only dozens of humpbacks and several pods of white-beaked dolphins but also five northern bottlenose whales have made their way into our bay.
Gentle Giants offers a muti-trip pass which gives you the possibility of going on as many GG1 tours as you want for a certain amount of days.Exactly that did Ulrika and Roger from Sweden - and they were extremely happy with their choice; “We‘ve been talking about going to Húsavík for quite some time and when it was finally decided, the multi-trip pass for 3 days felt perfect.
Exciting, loud and important. Our passengers on the 13:15 tour got to experience something very special today which was planned but not a part of our standard whale watching trip. The Icelandic coast guard together with the local rescue team had a safety drill on board our boat where a woman from the rescue team got winched up from the deck of Sylvía.
So, today we enter the month of August and even though no schedules change we can still look back at July and conclude: We do not remember a season as successful as the this one has been so far.The whales are many – still – and active.
Having a humpback whale checking out the boat is something really special and amazing to watch, but having a humpback doing that on all my three trips the other day was something unbelievable and indescribable for me.
Those days the summer is high in Húsavík. Loads of people wander the streets, enjoy the sun (which is shining bright and warm) and go whale watching. There is an annual festival going on over the weekend, called Mærudagar - Candy Days.
How close can you get to a whale...? Never in my five seasons by Gentle Giants have I experienced a humpback scratching its nose to the keel of our boat nor examining us so closely, calmly and for so long as this one did this morning.
