BLUE WHALES, SEI WHALE AND THE HYBRID
The past three days our passengers and crew on both RIBS were able to spot some of the largest animals on earth.
Surprisingly, two blue whales returned to Skjálfandi. In fact, it seems to be a mother with her calf. Surfacing a lot, the passengers on the RIBS were able to get some great and close-up views onto the two whales, which are staying some miles away from Húsavík. Blue whales are the largest animals on earth. The largest individual ever found was about 33,58m in length.
Besides them, the hybrid is still in the bay - still allowing the RIBS to come really close. Being a crossbreed of a fin and a blue whale it is a descendant of the two largest whales existing.
Beyond that, another rarely seen whale showed up the day before yesterday. A sei whale - not only seldom to be observed here, but rarely seen generally - spent some hours in exactly the same area as the other two species. The sei whale is among the fastest of all cetaceans and can reach speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour. Its name comes from the Norwegian word for pollock as both, that fish species and the sei whales appear off the coast of Norway at the same time of the year.
Read more about the sei whale here.
- Sarah
PHOTOS: Sarah Arndt
Two blue whales: Mother and calf surfacing next to each other.
Mother and calf breaking the surface at the same time.
Sei whales are rarely seen in this area. Still, one individual decided to visit Skjálfandibay.
