THE BIG STARS AND THEIR YOUNG ONES
Also today we got to see the blue whale mother with her calf. As the other days both of them surface a lot and don’t dive far away from our boats. That allows our passengers to get great views onto them. The difference in size is extreme and even though the calf is already several metres long (blue whale calves can be born with a size up to 7 metres) it looks very tiny compared to its mother.
Besides that we got surprised by a very small humpback whale. Even though it is extremely unlikely to see calves of that species in our bay (they are born in warm, low latitude waters), this one must be pretty young. Swimming very close to shore in shallow waters it was probably searching for shelter near the mountains. Surrounded by many birds it was feeding near the river mouth of Skjálfandfljót, a glacial river, which enters the ocean in the southern part of our bay.
Today it has been a little wavy out at sea, but the weather in Húsavík is still as enjoyable as the past days. Even though it took long, it seems that the summer has finally arrived in the village.
- Sarah
Photos: Mark Hölper
The blue whale mother has been seen a couple of days now swimming together with her young calf in Skjálfandibay.