WE care about our whales!!!!!
Today was a successful whale watching day again. The summer still decides to stay away from Iceland. However, the cold temperatures seem to improve the feeding situation in the bay. This morning we had the chance to observe a feeding humpack whale. The animal was very calm and relaxed, spending a lot of time at the surface and didn’t care about us at all, when we approached it slowly to avoid any disturbance. Furthermore we encountered a group of white beaked dolphins. The dolphins were feeding as well, always followed by a flock of arctic terns picking up the leftovers from the sea surface.
In the afternoon we aimed for the humpback whale again. Unfortunately, a sad surprise was awaiting us: A big cruise ship decided to leave its track and take a detour through our bay, to do some whale watching by itself. We are always very concerned about the animals, that’s why we signed the Code of Conduct which contains strikt guidelines on how to approach the whales, the time we spend with them and the number of boats staying in one area. But the cruise ship obviously doesn’t care about that at all. They even crowded our boats out and hassled the humpback whale, who started tail slapping in trying to protect himself. This is not how we want to treat the animals. We are always aware of the fact that we are the visitors in the animals’ territory.
So we decided to leave the area to not to disturb the humpback whale even more. We headed further west and came across some white beaked dolphins. Close to the fishrock we also spotted a minke whale and got some very nicce encounters with this individual.
Once again – for us it is most important to show our passengers the natural behavior of the whales in their territory without disturbing the animals. And we will try to convince other companies to do that as well!
Luisa, guide
