OCTOBER FLUKES
Autumn is here, and whale-wise, we couldn’t have asked for a better first half of October! Several humpback whales have returned to Skjálfandi Bay, some of which we recognise from this time last year, delighting us with their presence in the waters off Húsavík.
There’s something truly special about welcoming familiar individuals back to the bay, especially when they appear to be in good condition and well-fed. Seeing these familiar flukes resurface is always a lovely reminder that some of our visitors find their way back to us and their feeding grounds year after year.
But how do we recognise them? Every humpback whale has a unique pattern of black and white markings on the underside of its tail fluke, much like a fingerprint! The shape, markings and scars on each fluke help us distinguish individual whales and compare photographs from previous encounters. We can also contribute our sightings to Happywhale, a global platform that uses photographs of whale flukes to identify individuals and track their movements around the world.
It’s a wonderful way to learn more about the whales that visit our bay and discover where their journeys take them while they are not around and here with us!
As autumn unfolds, we still have several weeks of whale watching ahead of us, and we’re excited to see what the rest of the season will bring.
Who else might stop by?Which familiar flukes will return from previous years, and which new visitors will surprise us?
After all, that’s part of the magic of whale watching: you never quite know what awaits you out on the water next!
Scroll through the photos below to meet some of the October whales so far!
