Song of the Whale Diary-4th - 7th August 2006

Friday 4th August 2006
In the early morning we find a humpback whale that we thoroughly photograph. The fluke is the essential cue for an identification. The central catalogue for humpback whales is at the College of the Atlantic in Maine, USA, which will get our pictures at the end of the project.

As we were photographing the humpbacks, we heard the low regular clicks of sperm whales not far away. We went to find them and soon got to a group of two animals we could track and identify. Unlike the humpback whales, IFAW hosts the central library for the North Atlantic and Mediterranean sperm whale pictures. As with other ID-catalogues, the scientists hope to get clues on the movements and migration routes of the whales by matching pictures from different locations of the same whale. We can also learn a lot about the life history of individual whales if they can be photographed repeatedly.

We found the sperm whales in relatively shallow waters of just 150 meters depth. Usually they are found in much greater depths of more then 500 meters. Why the sperm whales around Iceland are more often in shallow waters is not thoroughly known. We continue our search heading northeast to find more whales.

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Saturday 5th August 2006
Fog forced us into Grimsey harbour on Friday evening. Grimsey is a small island cut in half by the Arctic Circle. It is supposed to be the chess capital of Iceland, but we did not find any chess playing locals.

As soon as we came into the harbour several cars drove up to the dock to greet us. As soon as we were tied up, our Icelandic intern Tobba explained to the onlookers what we were doing and a whaling debate ensued. The usual arguments in defense of whaling were presented to us. Whales supposedly eat all the fish and so on. A fisherman said that four whales recently killed near Grimsey were found to be nearly starved.  Therefore, he said, it can only be better for the fishing industry but and the whales if more are killed. We could not get deeper into the debate at that point but said we would meet up in the local pub later on to continue the debate in more depth.

Although we came across individuals in favor of whaling we recently heard another story which shows how the perception of whales is changing in Iceland. In Isjafjordur some days ago we talked at length to an interested visitor. He told us that the community of Isjafjordur had met with the local whaler to discuss whaling. The townspeople said they did not want to see the local whales killed and that they would much rather enjoy “their” friendly whales alive then have them killed by whalers. This seems quite remarkable, especially as this town is located in the whalers' heartland, where ‘prime cuts’ of whale meat are readily available in the town’s supermarket.

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Sunday 6th August 2006
We leave Grimsey the next morning. With the weather deteriorating during the morning we retreat into Isafjordur and on up to Akureyri. Despite the adverse conditions, we are lucky to encounter two sperm whales and take numerous photographs of their flukes. They are not as large as the ones we have seen on previous occasions. Nonetheless, they are impressive animals.

It is a national bank holiday in Iceland. As a result there is a very large festival going on in Akureyri entertaining roughly 18,000 visitors over weekend. Last night we endeavoured to help celebrate the festivities with both dancing and some Viking beer tasting. It is a fun night although the local brew is nowhere near as good as the black stuff back home!

We fill up with water and fuel for the final leg of our fieldwork while Andreas goes off in search of a supermarket. He succeeds and we join him to gather more fresh food and milk before we set sail. At around 1030 hours we cast off from Akureyri fishing harbour and head out. It’s a bit of a wild day outside in the fjiord with winds reaching 20 plus knots. Our plan is to head for the island Hrisey, tie up there and depart early the next morning. However, due to wind conditions it is not suitable and we motor on to a small harbour called Dalvik (65o58’N 18o32’W) on the south side of the fjord opposite Hrisey.  Some of us go ashore and explore the town. It is quiet, which is good because we take this opportunity to have an early night.

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Monday 7th August 2006
We planned to leave Dalvik early this morning but due to the interest from the locals sparked by Tobba’s enthusiastic chatting on the quayside we have some visitors interested in seeing the boat before we leave. At 9am our guests arrive and look around SOTW; it seems that the local fishermen are mainly interested in the boat (especially the engine room) but we take the opportunity to introduce them to the non-invasive research methods that we use to study whales. They depart the boat carrying the leaflets we have printed in Icelandic, and throw off our lines for us so that we can head out of the fjord and continue our search for blue whales.
 
There is very little wind, but a huge swell is running so our progress is a bit bumpy. Despite the swell, the conditions for sighting whales are good and we encounter humpback whales and manage to get some photos of their flukes. We are also seeing lots of white-beaked dolphins. Now that we are further offshore, these seem a lot keener to bow ride than they are in the more inshore areas. They are a very acrobatic species and demonstrate impressive leaps. We have yet to see any blue whales, but keep a keen eye out, especially because we are moving into iceberg territory.

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