We watch the humpbacks cavort offshore then visit a fantastic display of whale bones ashore
By Eileen Ogintz
The waves are really high. Swells were washing onto the deck of the traditional Icelandic Oak Boat. I’m amazed I didn’t get seasick.
We are in Husavik, considered the Whale Capital of Iceland on the North Coast. It’s a town of just 2500 people. We are out looking for whales, hoping to see a Blue Whale, the largest animal to have ever existed on earth. This region is also home to Orca, Sperm whale, Pilot Whale, White – beaked dolphin maybe a Minke Whale or a Harbor Porpoise.
[Photos by Andy Yemma]
But on this Abercrombie & Kent Arctic Adventure, there are no guarantees of what we will see and that’s certainly the case this morning. Just about when I’m ready to declare the Whale Watch, operated by the family owned North Sailing Company, pioneers in whale watching and sustainable tourism, we see humpbacks—actually their blows and a fin here and there. No terrific views of them jumping out of the water.
We were told that gigantic Blue whales have been seen in these waters, but generally earlier in the summer, as well as Minke whales. Not today. Just a couple of humpbacks. We are so jaded, comparing this to the scores of whales we saw in Antarctica several years ago on another A&K Expedition. It just goes to show that especially in the wild, you are never assured of seeing anything.
We do learn more about whales at the Husavik Whale Museum, one of the few devoted solely to whales and supported by Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy which supports various local nonprofit initiatives around the world. A&K Founder Geoffrey Kent pioneered the community-first approach to conservation more than 60 years ago, sponsoring projects that focus on education, enterprise, health, and environment. The philanthropy arm of the company believes that the best way to protect the planet’s remaining wilderness is to invest in communities that live there. That meant $2.4 million support last year with 55 projects in 24 countries.
They include providing clean water wells; construction of a nursing school, medical centers, and maternity wards in remote communities; providing free school meals, books, and teaching equipment; investing in research for the protection of Antarctica’s fragile polar environments and aiding a Galapagos project to teach local children why this amazing Archipelago is so important to the planet. The Galapagos initiative enables local seventh graders to live aboard a boat for several days so they can learn more about local wildlife, geology, and history of the region.
A&K has helped fund the Blue Whale Project here and we are privileged to see the full skeleton of this enormous creature. “The Blue Whale is the gem of our museum,” the museum director Eva Bjork Faradottir told our group. “The whale is here thanks to A&K,” she explained, as many museums wanted this Blue Whale but A&K stepped in to start funding the multi-year project. “We had to fight with the (Iceland) National History Museum,” she said.
There are only 3000 Blue Whales the North Atlantic, 5000 in the world. They are the largest creatures on the planet, descendants of land mammals that evolved into ocean-going mammals well after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Once numerous, they were hunted almost to extinction but have been protected by international anti-whaling treaties and enforcement over the past few decades. Their numbers are rebounding slowly, as each female gives birth to one calf at a time.
During our visit, Faradottir accepted a $10,000 contribution from A&K to continue funding the museum, including the ongoing work on a beached White-Beaked Dolphin that won’t be ready for display until 2026. She explained the museum had waited many years, until 2023, for a beached specimen, though they number in the thousands in Iceland.
This little museum is a gem itself, offering summer family programs. Research conferences, collaborations with the University of Iceland, school programs, even whale-themed yoga for locals. “We try to include the community as much as we can,” she said, noting there are 14 skeletons of 12 species.
Maybe next time, we can see more of them in the wild.