It was cold. We had been scanning the bay for 1,5 hour without success when I spotted a majestic blow in front of us. We litterally bumped into a blue whale...This gentle giant was deep diving when we reached the area and I was looking all around in search for its next breath.
Just got a call from guide Lia onboard Sylvía - she was screaming of happiness.
At Gentle Giants we are dealing with nature, and nature is unpredictable – especially in Iceland. Whales come and go and every tour is a new adventure, both for passengers and crew. Yesterday all whales seemed to have taken the day off and no whale watching boats saw anything bigger than an average person.
Humpback whales have been spotted on all our trips today. Daniel, guide onboard Sylvía 16:45, called me and screamed in excitement. First they had found two of those gentle giants swimming together and another one further away.
Today our boats are out again watching humpback whales according to schedule. Yesterday though all our trips were cancelled due to too bad weather conditions. The crew of Gentle Giants used the time of cancelled trips to practise safety routines, in case of emergency onboard.
The bay that we do our whale watching tours on is called Skjálfandi Bay. Translated to English that means "The Trembling Bay” and the name is for a reason of course...The crack between the continental plates - the Eurasian and North American - goes in a vertical line straight through Iceland and in the north it comes out in this bay.
Three new tours have this year been added to Gentle Giants’ vast selection of adventures. One of them is the Puffins Exclusive tour on our new RHIB Amma Sigga. The trip seems to be a real hit and we are getting into a steady routine of how to run it.
The last days have been amazing whale-wise - and so also today. 16:45 Sigrún Björg (guide by GG since 2008) went out on her first tour of the year. In the south of the bay she and Captain Kalli found four humpbacks which were playing around.
The Icelandic calendar today says "Sjómannadagurinn” (“Seaman’s Day”). It is a holiday to honour all the people working at sea. This is the country of fishermen through generations.
The first thing I heard when answering the phone was a group of people cheering, screaming and clapping their hands. After a second Daniel (guide onboard Sylvía) started talking in a very excited voice and I could hear the smile on his face.
