At a time of year from Holmavik, Westfjords, Iceland where we mostly see larger humpbacks deep-feeding, we had an unusual tour today. With beautiful weather and light we could see whales blowing from the harbour. But when we got out there we struggled to find them and those we saw were taking very long dives, not fluking much, and being tricky to watch.
So, we carried on our further into the bay to see what we could find. Luckily the weather allowed us to go further out. We saw some small splashes in the distance but were not sure what it was as they were strange. As we got closer we found a small humpback with a small group of white-beaked dolphins playing together.
I have seen humpbacks and these dolphins together before, but mostly it has always appeared like the dolphins were slightly annoying the humpbacks and just messing around with them. But this interaction appeared like this was going both ways, with the humpback visibly following after the much faster dolphins, chasing them around as they chased it around.
With perfect weather conditions we drifted, turning the engines off and the whale and dolphins also took it in turns coming near us and swimming under the boat. It was an unforgettable encounter.
-Judith
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