September is a month of changes. As autumn starts, the colours of the landscape around us keep changing - soon everything will be red yellow and orange and the scent of blueberries that now appear everywhere will be in the air for several more weeks.
September so far has been very thrilling regarding the wildlife in Skjálfandi Bay! A few days ago, we had the fortunate to observe 3 fin whales in the bay, for a short period. And what kind of species is it? Fin whales are the second largest whale species in the world and can reach almost 24 meters.
The first week of September is flying by and while days pass, whale sightings continue to be incredible. Several humpback whales have been around during the last week - in fact, up to five individuals were spotted on some of our tours! The animals were oftentimes travelling slowly through the bay and spent a lot of time relaxing and resting on the surface.
In our recent posts we have talked much about the communication methods of whales and why a good hearing is essential underwater in order to survive the day. Last, I talked about the baleen whales, which use low frequency sounds to communicate over great distances - not only to chit-chat with the individual a feeding ground away, but also to manage their annual migration between (sub-)arctic and tropical waters.
In our recent posts I explained how cetaceans hear and listen to their surrounding, mapping and creating their world and all that's within - their key to survival. Whilst one group of whales, the toothed whales, use echolocation for communication and navigation, the second group of whales, the baleen whales, has evolved a whole different strategy: Baleen whales instead use really low frequencies, in some cases too low for us to hear.
August has finished full of memories and we gathered the remarkable moments that we had! The weather was favourable and the sea was calm most of the time throughout the month allowing us to joy and explore the wildlife in Skjálfandi Bay! Many species were seen in the bay: humpbacks whales, white beaked dolphins, minke whales were regular visitors and sighted several times during our tours.
Below the surface light vanishes, colours disappear and the deeper we go, the less we see. And as we go blind, a world of sounds opens up to us, a perfectly tuned concert of all frequencies and imaginable noises .
The ocean is not only the largest habitat on earth, but it is also the darkest. Beneath the waves, light vanishes and the deeper you look, the darker it is. Eventually, at a depth of about a 1000m, all sunlight disappears.
In only a week this month is over and therewith, we stop running our evening tours. Late afternoons and evenings out in the bay can be so charming and fulfilling. The sun is slowly setting at the horizon - turning the sky all yellow, the clouds red and pink.
In the ocean, marine mammals rely strongly in sound to navigate, communicate, feed or mate. They produce different types of sounds according to the behaviour context and their habitat. For example, humpback whales are known for their complex songs during the breeding season.
