7 different whale species in the Vestfjord!
The summer is here, the Vestfjord is full of plankton, you can see schools of mackerell everywhere! on a beautiful day i found 7 different whale species in the fjord: first there were 2 fin whales, a mother with calf, then 3 harbour porpoises swam by and i met 2 minke whales on my way into the fjord. a friend was with the group of orcas deeper in the fjord and he received a call that pilot whales were there as well. I moved on, it was a far trip but worth it! halfway in the fjord I saw a lonely humpback whale feeding, he was not interested in boats and was difficult to take a pitcure of, but i got his fluke for ID! then I moved towards the pilot whales and just when I arrived at the small group, more and more pilot whales appeared and in the end i was surrounded by more than 100 individuals!! what an amazing sight and sounds, they communicated a lot when meeting..they did not mind my presence, some animals even came very close to have a closer look at me. i could take excellent Photo-ID and some good sound recordings. but unfortunately a large ship circled us for the whole time and I got a lot of boat noise on the recordings…
then all of sudden the pilot whales started lifting their heads out of the water, something we call spy hopping. they can see well above water, but I had no clue what they were looking for, until I saw a small fin turning around my boat, then another one, then jumps…a group of Atlantic white sided dolphins came to say hi! there was a lot of communication and then 5 minutes later all was quiet again, the dolphins had left!
it was truly an amazing day!! one of the best days in my life. after 13 hrs out at sea I cam home, very tired but happy! the field work is going very well this year…
pictures will follow later in the gallery…i need some sleep first…
heike