Friday, December 28, 2007

A GREAT YEAR OF 2007 COMING TO AN END ... AN EVEN A BETTER ONE AHEAD 2008!

Now when the year is coming to an end – a year with great success and improvements for Gentle Giants - we look back upon the main events in the company’s operation this year.

     Early this year the company received the Blue Flag pennant certificate. The Blue Flag is an internationally recognised eco-label certificate, with the aim of improving the environmental quality of beaches and marinas and the management of coastal areas. By operating according to the Blue Flag’s Environmental Code of Conduct, the company’s fleet sailed under the Blue Flag pennant.

     On April 26^th this year’s season began with a blasting start! Majestic blue whales, humpbacks and minke whales were spotted, only 1.5 nautical miles from the harbour. This was quite a surprise having those gentle giants so early in the bay. It appeared to be a start of a great whale adventure … which it then became indeed.

     June 2007 will be difficult to beat in the future. One of the best months regarding whales – ever! A complete whale festival! Skjálfandi Bay was unbelievably full of life. In total seven species of whales were spotted in the bay: Harbour porpoises + white-beaked dolphins + minke whales + humpbacks + blue whales were common to see and occasionally orcas and fin whales. The “average” tour in June consisted of a few humpback whales and a couple of blue whales among smaller species. What more can you ask for? Those great whale news attracted many whale-fans from around the world and we had a special visit from Wade Hughes and his wife Robyn from Australia, both experienced divers. Wade joined one of our tours and did several attempts to dive with humpbacks in Skjálfandi Bay in outstanding weather conditions, clear blue sky, sunny as could be and the calmest you wish.

The largest animal ever to wander the earth - the blue whale.

Humpback whales are very common in Skjálfandi Bay during the summer months.

     070707 was a memorable day for the company. Our newest addition to our fleet arrived to Husavik. The boat was named Sylvia, after the manager’s daughter Sylvía Dís Stefánsdóttir. This beautiful 27 brt. streamlined oak boat, built in Akureyri in 1976, had been used for fishing around Iceland until it was converted summer 2007 into a passenger vessel in the shipyard of Akureyri. Sylvia is a great addition to the company’s fleet, a spacious vessel carrying up to 60 passengers and offering plenty of great viewing spots for our whale watchers.

Sylvia arrived to Husavik on 070707. The boat is named after the manager's daughter, who was present receiving the ship in Husavik and the first one to secure the ropes to its new harbour.

     July is the month that is always the busiest - being the high travel season. With the arrival of our new boat Sylvia, we were able to offer more and even better personal service to our customers. Plenty of new departures were added to our whale watching schedule along with other exciting excursions. In the highest season seven departures departed every day from Husavik harbour. Humpbacks and smaller species were the most common whales in the bay that month – and occasionally we had some Big Blues in the bay. At the end of the month, the yearly Husavik Festival took place with a big local celebration in Husavik. Gentle Giants and GPG held an annual sea angling competition and never before have so many participants – of all ages - taken part in the competition!

The annual sea-angling competition - popular among all ages!

     August arrived with a couple of days of bad weather and cancelled tours throughout the month. This is Iceland and the weather is completely unpredictable! Despite heavy storms some days though, humpbacks, minkes, dolphins, and harbour porpoises seemed to feel like staying with us. We even had a visit from two very uncommon species; sei whales and long-finned pilot whales!
In August our annual staff celebration took place – staff and families rode on horses to Heiðarbær where a wonderful meal waited the group and then a nice swim!

The minke whale is the most common whale in Icelandic waters. It is known for its curiosity and for approaching boats.

The white-beaked dolphins can be very playful, giving a great show for whale watchers!

Humpbacks in the beautiful summer weather.

Fin whales are the second largest after the Big Blues and  were occasionally spotted on our tours, especially in June.

     September is usually a quiet month with whale watching. The number of tourists in Husavik decreases, the weather conditions change, and the bigger whales start migrating to warmer waters in lower latitudes. Bad weather conditions made it difficult for whale watching – strong winds, snow and rain – not the best for watching whales. However the whales have been staying in the bay longer each year and Humpies were spotted throughout the season more or less. This month in September we had three special whale encounters: On September 10^th we had a nice visit from a pod of orcas, which actually stayed around in the bay for six days. Orcas are toothed whales and quite unusual for them to stay so long in the bay. In the very end of September our boat Sylvia found two humpback whales swimming in the nice calm autumn weather. This is also quite unusual, where as humpbacks migrate to warmer waters in the autumn time. Finally long-finned pilot whales were occasionally spotted along with minkes and many dolphins.

     This year we decided to offer whale watching tours at weekends in October. The rough seas of Atlantic sometimes made it difficult for us to go out – but when it was possible, we spotted large groups of white-beaked dolphins in most of the tours and minkes as well.

     As said before, with the addition of Sylvia to our fleet, we could offer a variety of adventures at sea. Never before has the company had so many tailor-made excursions! Skjálfandi Bay has a lot of beautiful surroundings and a lot to offer, not only whales. Flatey Island, Puffin Island and the historic mountains of Vík were popular among hiking groups, school groups, photographers and filming crews. Not to forget our sea angling tours in the great fishing grounds in the bay especially known by our experienced captains – offering as before a 100% catching guarantee!!

Sea-angling next to Puffin Island.

Sædís Helga, Aþena Lind and Sylvía Dís practicing their moves.

    


















A trip to Flateyjardalur, which is a property of the family, located next to Flatey Island.

     Gentle Giants is a family-run company, with more than 35 years of experience in the Bay. The company faces a bright future, aiming on doing the best possible each year for our customers and willing to share its great and real experienced and fully licensed staff with you!

     We wish you, all our co-operators, travel agencies, and all our customers a very happy new year and hoping to see you here in Husavik summer 2008!

On behalf of your whale watching partner in Iceland,

The staff of Gentle Giants summer 2007:

Stefán – Managing director/marketing director/captain
Agnes – Assistant manager/sales
Daniel – Ticket sales/guide
Ásgerður – Ticket sales/guide
Alli – Captain
Bessi – Captain
Siddi – Captain
Addi – Captain
Hilmar - Captain
Jesse – Head guide
Maria – Guide
Magda – Guide

... Good memories from Skjálfandi Bay ....

Photos taken by GG Team.