Húsavík – or moreover Skjálfandi Bay- is one out of a few places around the world where one might be lucky to observe a giant blue whale on a whale watching trip. Numerous blue whales pass our bay on their migration north to their feeding grounds and are admired by our passengers as the largest animal on earth.
"We were sailing looking for the lovely humpbacks when we spotted splashes in the distance. Probably some dolphins we thought. When we saw those amazing black rounded heads showing up on the surface we couldn’t believe how lucky we were! Dolphins yes but not the usual white beaked, those were the heads of pilot whales!!In the beginning they were shy, we could see 4 or 5 surfacing, but after a few minutes the rest of the pod showed up and it was huge! When I say huge it’s more than 50 pilot whales searching for mackerels near Flatey (an island out in Skjálfandi Bay).
Despite being a fishing nation there are very few places where you can get fresh fish in Iceland. Most of it goes directly to the fishing factories and after being processed it is exported where its world famous quality is very appreciated.
“Admittedly, our trip with Gentle Giants was awesome because of the dozens – DOZENS – of Humpback and Minke whales we saw on our tour. At one point, we were literally smack dab in a pod of them, and it got to the point that there wasn't a reason to take a photo if there would ONLY be 1 whale in the shot.
The blue whale, which had been seen several days throughout July, visited us once again yesterday. However, this time it didn’t come alone, but was accompanied by another, even larger individual! The two of them were seen on several “GG2 Big Whale Safari and Puffins” -tours throughout the day.
Antonio Ruiz is a Spanish travel blogger, who has joined us on a “GG2 Big Whale Safari and Puffins” tour on one of our RIB speed boats earlier this month. On the tour Antonio got to admire a lovely humpback whale, which - just as many other individuals - spends the summer time in Skjálfandi Bay to feed.
On both my “GG2 Big Whale Safari and Puffins” - trips today numerous whales filled us with joy by jumping majestically out of the water. On the first tour a humpback whale showed off for several minutes by lifting its huge body out of the water over and over again.
In recent days a couple of humpback whales approached our boats several times to have a closer look at us! Sometimes it wasn't clear anymore whether we were the ones doing whale watching or if it was the gentle giants of the ocean doing human watching around our boats! See it for yourself on the video Daniel González, on of our guides, took the other day - or visit us in Húsavík and join a trip to see the wildlife of Skjálfandi Bay! See Daniel's full video here: https://www.
Much to everyone's delight, the blue whale was seen in the bay again last night, and was still around this morning as well! Last night both the GG1 and GG2 tours watched this giant whale during a sunset and even a beautiful rainbow, making the experience seem almost surreal.
Yesterday, the blue whale was spotted again on several tours, delighting everyone since it quite rare to see one of these giants at this time of the year. Normally by now, the blue whales have passed by and are further north in their arctic feeding grounds, but as we know so well, wild nature is always full of surprises! Blue whales are usually diving to depths of approximately 100 meters while feedings, and holding their breath for up to 20 minutes, so watching the largest animal on earth can take some patience and perseverance, but the reward is incredible when you see the whale emerge with a powerful exhale creating a 9 meter high cloud! On both our evening GG1 tour and GG2 tour everyone got a perfect look as it was swimming slowly and calmly in the beautiful summer evening light.
