The Sea is Alive

Today the bay was teaming with life. As we left the harbor mouth we saw a puffling, going for one of its first swims in the big ocean. The bay was calm as we made our way towards Lundey and perhaps this encouraged the harbor porpoises to come close to look at our boat. We saw several of them gliding swiftly through the water. Their tiny size meant they were only visible for a second at a time, almost so we wondered if we had imagined it.

Upon our arrival at Lundey we were greeted by a seal, who like the porpoises, seemed quite curious to know what a bunch of people holding cameras were doing in a boat.

After our stop at Lundey to admire the many puffins, we had a very active whale watching session. We saw a humpback whale very close to the boat, as well as several “stinky minkes”. True to their nickname, their strong odor was perceptible on the boat—the only drawback of seeing them up so close. One of the minke whales swam in a circle at the back of the boat, and followed us around for a time.  

In the afternoon tour we got to see a lunge feeding humpback whale, as well as a large flock of fulmars relaxing on the calm ocean. One of them flew around the boat cocking its head and eyeing us up and down.

 Inka Rein Jungwirth, Deckhand and Guide.