1st Whale Congress in Húsavík

Wednesday 16th July, the Whale Museum hosted an event here in Húsavík, the Whale Congress.  North Sailing had two representatives presenting at this conference, guides Luisa Klotz and Sabrina Brando.   Dr Marianne Rasmussen, the director of the Húsavík Research Centre, was the first to present.  She described some of the research that is being…

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A handful of Humpbacks…..

Today was just a perfect day for whale watching here in Skjálfandi Bay with very good sea conditions, a lot of sun (at least in the afternoon ;-)) and lots of whales and birds!   I went on three trips on “Náttfari” today and on our first tour (at 9:00) we encountered a minke whale…

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Sleeping Humpback whale

This morning as we set the course to the bay we once again did not know what to expect. For that we were, as always, headed in to the wild nature. After about a half hour of searching we found a sleeping Humpback whale. This whale did not seem to matter that we were watching…

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Schooner Opal is leaving for Greenland!

  Once again, North Sailing is offering tours in beautiful Scoresby Sund on the east coast of Greenland.  Opal is leaving now to start the season and Hildur will also go to Greenland later in August.    Schooner Opal will leave Húsavík later tonight and head for the majestic scenery of Scoresby Sund, on the…

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Blue whales are back

As we headed to the bay this morning, once again we did not know what to expect. We decided to head towards North where we were hoping to find something. After quite a while we spotted a big spout further north. Now we set the course there. Soon we also realized that this was not…

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Something new and…relaxing

Yoga instructors Huld Hafliðadóttir and Arnbjörg Kristín Konráðsdóttir arranged a tour which they called “Deep Relaxation, Meditation, and Whale Watching.”   On Monday evening, July 14th, a group of 26 people of all ages set off on Schooner Opal for this new experience.    Huld has previously been a guide for North Sailing and now works…

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Double Tails

The Double Tails package is a combination of the NS-1 Húsavík Original Whale Watching tour and a 2-hour riding tour from local horse farm Saltvík.  If the riding is combined with the NS-2 Whales, Puffins & Sails tour, it is called Double Tails and Sails.  These tours have proved to be very popular this summer.…

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Sunday afternoon show

Once again we had a very succesful whale watching day! In the morning we just left the harbor when we spotted some harbor porpoises. But since these animals are very shy and usually try to avoid the boat we sailed further west, where we encountered a humpback whale. It was very calm and relaxed, spending…

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Calm whales on a busy day

This weekend started quite sunny and it was warm, even out at sea. The good weather was probably one of the reasons why so many tourists went out with us to enjoy the stunning nature of Skjálfandi Bay and of course to watch some wildlife. During the previous days we usually encountered the whales far…

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Let's go north!

During the last couple of days (and also today) the main whale activity has been quite far out, in the northern part of the bay, about 9 miles away from Húsavík. That means that we have had to sail for about one hour towards the north, until we arrived in the area where we usually…

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Four species on one trip!

The weather conditions were really nice when we left Húsavík harbour this morning onboard our biggest vessel “Garðar”: The sun was shining, there was a light southerly wind, and the sea was also very calm. As the main whale activity had been quite far out in the northern part of the bay, we immediately set…

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20 years of whale watching on Knörrinn!

Knörrinn, the boat that started it all for North Sailing, is celebrating its 20th season as a whale watching boat.   In 1994, brothers Árni and Hörður Sigurbjarnarson decided to buy an old oak boat to save it from being scrapped.  (or worse-old wooden boats sometimes ended up on the New Year’s Eve bonfire!) They…

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Sleepy humpbacks and playful dolphins

  On our tour on Garðar at 10.00 we were greeted with sunshine and calm conditions. We sailed north west and came across a small pod of White-beaked dolphins, before reaching an area with three sleeping humpback whales who were logging at the surface (resting). This was exciting to see as it is a behavior…

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Sperm Whales show up again in Skjálfandi Bay!

  The crew on-board Bjössi Sör has reported that they had encountered a sperm whale in the bay. Sperm whales are very rare in the area since they tend to prefer much deeper areas. A few sperm whales entered the bay a few weeks ago and again today, which is rather extraordinary. We certainly hope…

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A unique Edge of the Arctic tour

Passengers and crew met on Monday evening on the 30th of June on-board Schooner Hildur, got settled on the ship and discussed possible options for the tour ahead. The weather forecast was not optimal; due to strong winds that were expected from the east on Wednesday an alternative route had to be taken.   Early…

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Worth the wait

This morning the whales are very far away. We past a lone Minke whale who surfaced twice on our way west but no luck spotting him or her again, these beautiful little whales, but so fast! We kept heading west and we were rewarded with Humpback whales. Traveling slowly we suddenly realize that there are…

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In the eye of the storm

Storm was forecasted, what we got was a wonderful day with sun, blue skies spotted with clouds, and a little breeze, we were in the eye of the storm. In the morning tour we sailed to the west side of the bay to find 3 humpback whales feeding and traveling up and down the bay. The…

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