Humpback and minke whale and plenty of dolphins
Although the weather is still more typical for autumn than for summer time, it’s still worth going out into Skjálfandi Bay to search for some wildlife. It was quite windy and we got some swell form the open ocean. But these conditions might mix up the water and bring more nutrients into the bay, which could lead to an increasing availability of food for the animals and thus more whales coming into the area.
In the morning we sailed in northwesterly direction, where we spotted a pod of white beaked dolphins. They were jumping and milling around, probably hunting fish. On the way back to Húsavík we also encountered a humpback whale, very close to the harbor actually. On the next tour, only about two hours later, the humpback whale had been travelling very fast in northerly direction and it took us more than one hour to reach it. Once again we got the proof that the animals are very fast swimmers!
In the evening we observed another species: A minke whale surfaced close to the fishrock in the western part of Skjálfandi Bay. It was very calm and we got some very close encounters, before we headed north, where we spotted another group of dolphins. They were jumping and approached the boat and some of them even followed us on our way back to the harbor!
Luisa, guide
White beaked dolphins (photo: Luisa Klotz)
