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.
It is fascinating how fast the life can change in the bay. As I say to all my passengers, every tour is a complete new adventure – even for the crew onboard. At 12:00 captain Kalli and I went on Sylvía, headed west towards the mountains of Kinn.
Today is 1st June and the summer has officially come. Our tours are getting busier day by day, from now on our Ticket Centre is open until 20:30 and we have five regular whale watching departures a day; Now at 9:45 Anna Björg and Bessi went out with a full Faldur in hope of finding the blue whale and humpbacks again.
On her first tour guiding all alone (13:15 today) Anna Björg was really lucky and experienced the most amazing tour. Skjálfandi Bay obviously welcomed her into the team and celebrated her maiden voyage through giving her- and our lucky passengers a dream adventure.
A BLUE WHALE and up to FIVE HUMPBACKS spotted on our afternoon tour! The bay is exploding with life. More updates coming later today.
