The blue whale that we tracked after it unexpectedly emerged from the sea approximately 20 minutes earlier seemed to have disappeared after a while — the ensuing mild disappointment did not dampen the exuberance of the sightings in the first place — so the crew abandoned following the blue whale and headed on to a different part of the waters of the Denmark Strait in the North Atlantic Ocean off of the coast of Iceland.
Whale Watching Adventure in Iceland: The Conclusion To a Successful Outing
Almost immediately, the spout of a humpback whale seemed to beckon us in the distance — as if to invite us over to that area of the sea.
We came closer to them; and the humpback whales like to be friendly towards boats. This humpback whale even brought its head out of the water.
At one point, non-stop action was occurring in the calm water. We basically lost count of how many more humpback whales we spotted after seeing at least eight of them and simply enjoyed the interactions with them.
When diving back into the water, almost every whale would wave its massive tail — seemingly to welcome its new friends to the area. The female guide aboard the vessel said that “The more a humpback whale likes a particular boat, the more it raises its tail out of the water.”
At least two mother and calf pairs of humpback whales were spotted. One mother and calf pair of humpback whales is shown in the above photograph — as well as in the featured photograph of this article.
Smiles were everywhere aboard the vessel upon the return to the town of Húsavík — especially as members of the crew were handing out hot fresh cinnamon buns and rich hot chocolate from a basket as part of the celebration of a joyous conclusion to an unexpectedly unusual day out at sea, in more ways than one.
As everyone was enjoying the cinnamon buns and hot chocolate, samples of baleen of the wildlife we saw during our experience — along with information from several spiral bound books for reference — were spread out on a wooden flat surface of the vessel; and the largest baleen was that of the blue whale.
The blue whale and humpback whale are two of 14 species of baleen whales, which have baleen instead of teeth that are used to collect plankton, krill, and small fish from the sea. These bristly baleen plates filter, sift, sieve or trap the favorite prey of the whales from seawater inside their mouths.
Baleen is comprised of keratin, which is the same protein that comprises our fingernails and hair. A closer view of the baleen of the blue whale is shown in the above photograph.
The time had come to turn back to port in Húsavík, as the sun was out in the late evening well after 10:00 by the time the excursion concluded.
About North Sailing
North Sailing was established in Húsavík in 1995 as one of the first companies in Iceland to offer regular whale watching tours; and has been dedicated to preserving the coastal culture of Iceland from the beginning by salvaging and renovating old oak ships while having adopted an active environmental policy based on the idea of sustainable development.
North Sailing
Garðarsbraut, 640 Húsavík
Iceland
+354-464-7272
Rates include a value added tax of eleven percent.
- Adults who are a minimum of 16 years of age — Icelandic króna 11,300 or approximately $80.09 in United States dollars
- Youth between seven years of age and 15 years of age — Icelandic króna 5,000 or approximately $35.44 in United States dollars
- Toddler up to a maximum of six years of age — No cost and free of charge
Whale watching excursions are offered from March through November each year. Obviously, seeing a blue whale is not guaranteed.
Final Boarding Call
I chose North Sailing completely by price, as its whale watching tour — which was scheduled to depart on Monday, June 4, 2018 at 7:30 in the evening — was the lowest cost. I paid a total of 12,600 Icelandic króna — which, at that time, was equivalent to $121.10 — for both Matthew Cohen and I to embark on what became an extraordinary whale watching adventure that was more than worth every króna I spent. I cannot imagine how the whale watching experience could have been any better.
When I booked those tickets on Sunday, June 3, 2018 at 7:20 in the evening Greenwich Mean Time — yes, on the night before the excursion while at lodging in Iceland — after researching other companies in Húsavík which conduct whale watching tours, one Icelandic króna was worth slightly greater than 0.00956 cents in United States dollars. Today, one Icelandic króna was worth slightly greater than 0.007 cents in United States dollars — meaning that the United States dollar is stronger in value against the Icelandic króna today than it was 4.5 years ago.
The same whale watching excursion for which I purchased tickets for us will cost 16,300 Icelandic króna in 2023 — sadly, the discount of ten percent on the last scheduled whale watching tour no longer seems to be offered — which is slightly more than $114.00 in United States dollars. The good news is that due to the current exchange rate between the Icelandic króna and the United States dollar, the cost is actually slightly less in United States dollars than in 2018 even though the price increased in Icelandic króna.
Past articles about this particular whale watching tour include:
- Húsavík: The Whale Capital of Iceland
- Whale Watching Out on Skjálfandi Bay in Iceland
- A BLUE Whale?!? Live? In Iceland? Yes. Watch the Video.
The raw and minimally edited video is seen here.
All photographs ©2018 by Brian Cohen.
This article is part of a series of articles by Brian Cohen pertaining to experiencing Iceland in eleven days. Please refer to the Iceland: Itinerary and Master Guide for links to additional articles which have been completed in this series.
