Upon our arrival in Húsavík we had the choice between doing a 3 hour boat trip in the Fjord or wandering in the Ásbyrgi gorge. The Fjord is famous for it’s high rate (almost 100%!) whale sightings of different species and due to that reason known as the center of whale watching in Iceland. – The choice was quite clear!
Only a few minutes after we left the small port we saw the first humpbacks.
A guy on the ship was our spotter, looking for whales. He was shouting clock times for the direction to turn heads and having a glimpse on fast appearing and disappearing whales.
The whales where not in a tourist mood and playing hide-and-seek. Turning heads and switching positions on the boat was serious business!
We couldn’t keep chasing after the humpback whales for too long though. The whale watcher colleagues on another boat hinted us to go out into the bay a bit further where they suspected blue whales.
This fountain proved them right!
It is very difficult to photograph whales – you have to be lucky to find them in general, you have to be lucky to be on the right spot on the boat in particular, you usually only see a small piece of a giant body – and once it appears, it is gone in a few seconds, leaving a weird looking circle in the water.
Next time they come up in the water far away and in a totally different and unexpected direction.
Nevertheless I saw the greatest mammal on earth and a real treasure with my own eyes. It was one of the most affecting moments of my life.