FROM FAR AWAY PLACES
As weeks pass by and the season proceeds, more and more humpback whale individuals pass by. Some stay just shortly, come and go, others stick around for a while, even for weeks.
Some of these individuals are known from previous years, while others are newbies in the bay.
How do we know? Humpback whales can be identified as individuals by the unique black and white patterns on the underside of their flukes (tails).
While we know humpback whales migrate vast distances between their feeding grounds here and their breeding grounds in (sub-)tropical waters, for the majority of individuals coming into our bay, we don't know where exactly they have been the last months.
Therefore, it is extremely exciting when it is possible to match photos of flukes taken around Iceland with others from far away places.
Recently, two such matches could be made thanks to the platform Happywhale.
Individual 1:
One of them is Marí / Asclepius who was first sighted around Iceland in 2019. Between then and 2022 it has shown up in various areas around our country. Then, in 2022 it ventured even further north to Sermersooq, Greenland.
The last sighting of Marí was in late January 2024 - around the British Virgin Islands! What do you think, will Marí be back here this summer?
Individual 2:
Another individual is Love. Love first appeared around Iceland in 2016, and returned for two consecutive years. While not having shown up in 2019, she was then sighted completely elsewhere in late January 2020: Guadalupe! And while we still don't know where Marí will venture after its journey to the British Virgin Islands, Love has returned to Skjálfandi Bay (Húsavík) earlier this month!
If you are curious to find out which humpback whale individuals you saw on your tour with us, upload your flukes shots on happywhale.com and learn more about who you spotted!
Source: happywhale.com
Recent photo of Love in Skjálfandi Bay: Joséphine Aussage (captain / head guide)
