Behavioral studies
It’s summer in Húsavík! Today it was sunny, windless and incredibly warm. We went on the boat dressed in T-shirts, without our hats, sweaters and jackets we’re wearing usually! How great is that!?
So perfect conditions for a wonderful whale watching day. And also the whales were awesome. We encountered a humpback whale in the middle of the bay. It was very calm and relaxed, spending long times at the surface and taking only shallow dives. It was obviously resting and didn’t care about us at all. It even approached the boat and surfaced right next to us!
Further west close to the mountains we spotted another humpback whale. It was more active, taking frequent dives and always lifting the tail very high. Then it surfaced with its mouth wide open, engulfing a lot of water and prey. We had the great chance to observe this whale while it was feeding close to the surface! There was also a lot of bird activity going on in that area, indicating that there was a lot of food available.
In the afternoon we also came across some harbor porpoises, quite easy to spot due to the calm sea. But suddenly in some distance further south a third humpback started breaching! What a great sight! And it’s so fascinating to witness such a wide range of different behaviors of these wonderful animals!
If you ask me, the summer could just go on like this! 😉
Luisa, guide
Humpback whale (photo: Luisa Klotz)
Humpback whale going for a dive (photo: Luisa Klotz)
