September is usually a quiet season. Locals and people coming to the town in the summertime to work or spend the summer with their families, leave Húsavík and go back to their jobs or studies in other towns around Iceland or even abroad.
Yesterday our crew and passengers had the best trip ever! It was a lovely morning for spotting whales; excellent sunny weather, flat sea and a lot had been going on in the bay during the previous days.
Humpback whales (Megaptera Novaeangliae) are among the most common species spotted in Skjálfandi bay during the summer 2006. They were already here in April and still with us, hopefully for long..
Skjálfandi bay is blessed with exceptional scenery, and luckily so far it is free of any heavy industry to ruin the spectacular views while sailing on the bay. Iceland´s main industry is fishing, and in Húsavík Harbour there are a few companies that produce fish for export, mainly cod.
One can surely say that the past month of July was really good for whale watching in Skjalfandi bay – and the bay has been alive with whales!5 different species were spotted on our tours in July – giant blue whales, humpback whales, minke whales, white-beaked dolphins and harbour porpoises.
Husavik has been very lively because of the Husavik Festival – Candy days & Swedish days 2006 - and this morning a sea angling competition was held by GENTLE GIANTS & GPG.A lot of people participated in the sea angling competition – local people as well as tourists! Competitors were divided into three boats – Athena ÞH, Sædís ÞH and Ásgeir ÞH, which all departed from Husavik harbour at 8:00 and returned at 12:00.Weather conditions were outstanding and catching very good – mainly cod – in our rich fishing grounds close to Husavik.
Today the HÚSAVÍK FESTIVAL began in Husavik and will be going on this week. The Húsavík Festival is actually a celebration of two local festivals:-SWEET DAYS (Mærudagar) is a local celebration of family and friends and is usually held the second weekend of August.
The blue whale is the largest animal to have ever lived - it is about the size of 2000 people. The blue whale has a heart of the size of a car - about 1200 kg.
The weather conditions the last two days made it impossible for whale watching – but this morning it had got better and our boats sailed out again ...All our boats went out this morning – full of whale watchers that have been waiting to visit the giants of Skjalfandi Bay – many humpback whales & a blue whale!According to the weather forecast the weather conditions should get better up here in the North – but of course, Icelandic weather is unpredictable .
The last days have been very good with the gentle giants of Skjalfandi. The Bay has been very lively and a lot of whales spotted on our tours. The main stars on our trips have been the giant blue whales along with many majestic humpback whales.
