How time flies! Our season has now been going on for a month and it is time to level up. We are excited to present some news from 15th April on. The last days our beloved puffins have started arriving back for their nesting season.
After three years as a whale watching guide by Gentle Giants he took a one-year break and went lump fishing with his dad in Norway. Now Aksel Bjarnason is back in Húsavík, his second home – this time as our head guide.
We all have our personal first signs of spring. Here in Iceland it is always a big thing when the first golden plover arrives, which happened today and was reported by national media as usual. To our head captain on the RIBs, Sverrir, launching RIB Amma Helga today was his "sweet sign of spring", according to a video he shared on Facebook.
Our lucky passengers and crew on yesterday's departure at 10:45 got to enjoy sunshine, white-beaked dolphins and humpback whales. What more can you ask for? The following video, of another beautiful humpback encounter, was recorded by our passenger Vivianne Kempers in 2017. Thanks again for sharing, @viviannekempers You can also tag, mention and/or check in at Gentle Giants Whale Watching to share your memories.
What brings the staff of Gentle Giants together is our passion for whales and their surrounding nature. Life as a whale watching guide is forever fascinating as every new departure is a unique adventure, which our guide Miro's story from yesterday's tour proves: Wild nature of Skjálfandi Bay, some tours are better than others and some can not get any better! And exactly one tour like mentioned last we experienced yesterday.
Since our season started, less than a week ago, we have encountered many interesting whale species in Skjálfandi Bay. Harbour porpoises, white-beaked dolphins, orcas, fin whales and a blue whale were on the list – and this morning we gladly added to it the beloved humpback whales as well.
Seeing a blue whale is literally a big thing and our passengers today were lucky enough to encounter the first one of our season. Blue whales are the biggest animals on Earth and can reach up to 33 metres and 190 tonnes.
That every tour is a new adventure is not just something we say. Today's two first tours of the season clearly prove this. A pod of white-beaked dolphins and several harbour porpoises were encountered on the very first trip at 10:45. During the afternoon’s extra departure at 14:15 the conditions had changed already and a pod of eleven orcas and three fin whales were seen instead.
The very first tour of the year, scheduled at 10:45 on Thursday, is almost fully booked already. To meet the demand we have opened up an extra departure at 14:15. This is so much fun, especially as we have never started the season this early before.
Today it is exactly 100 days left until Iceland's first ever World Cup match on 16 June. The celebration is kicked off with a special message delivered by our President and the First Lady (watch the embedded video).
