Whales and Sails

  Husavík, Iceland
Saturday, June 27, 2009

The trip to Husavik took us two days and we drove through some beautiful country!  There are really remote homes here and villages are few and far between.  The road wound along the shoreline of the fjord and parts of it were gravel so it was slow going but a very enjoyable ride.

On the Road II

On the Road

Husavik is on the north coast of Iceland and is known as being the best place to go whale watching.  We found a place to sleep at Guesthouse Arbol and then booked a whale watching tour for the following day.  We decided to do the afternoon trip on a traditional sailboat which would take us to the whales and also to Lundey - Puffin Island.  Before taking the trip that afternoon, we stopped in at the Whale Museum which was really informative and well done.  They have lots of skeletons and recreations of whales and several displays of baleen and lots more.

Whale Skeleton

Baleen

Whale Skeleton

Lower Jawbone

 
 
The tour itself took us across the bay to the area where whales commonly feed.  It was brisk out there on the water and I was glad I had bought some wool longjohns in town! 

Othre Side of the Fjord

On the Boat

Sure enough, we soon saw a humpback whale diving and surfacing, pretty much ignoring our boat and the few others that were also in the area.  It is hard to imagine from these picture and even seeing the whale in person, how large these creatures are: up to 16 meters!

Whale Movie

Humpback Dorsal Fin

Humpback Whale

We then motored over to Lundey but after our close encounters with puffins on Látrabjarg we were spoiled at having been so close to them. 

Then back to town and we spent the rest or our time here eating delicious food and drinking yummy coffee!  With apple pastry!  Yum!

Husavik

Husavik Harbor

Husavik Church