Whale Watching

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!

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Only a few minutes after we left the small port we saw the first humpbacks.

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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.

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The whales where not in a tourist mood and playing hide-and-seek. Turning heads and switching positions on the boat was serious business!

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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.

web-3404This fountain proved them right!

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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.

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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.