Commercial herring fishery with new 2022 quotas is on…full speed.
We can see a significant increase in the number of orcas, humpback whales, and fin whales in the fjord in the past couple of days.
Yesterday we encountered a group of 8 fin whales, closely followed by 3 humpback whales. I must say these humpback whales can be dependent sometimes.
Today the fishing activity (mainly the pumping part) was still ongoing around 10 am when the regular whale-watching boats arrived at the scene.
There were around 100 orcas (personal estimation) scattered in the fjord, most of them either waiting by the side of the fishing boat (for the pumping to finish), so they could get their free buffet (when the fisherman released the herring from the net, which could not be sucked up by the pump).
Some were swimming back and forth between the fishing boats.
For me, today was the first time I saw, Frøya (NKW-607).
This female is very dear to me. We shared some memorable moments in the past.
For example, she was the one, once, making sounds from her blowhole next to our boat
I have seen social media posts that she was sighted in November (mainly in the Lyngen area), so I know she is around.
Today came my lucky day to finally see her.
I was happy to see she has been together with a calf.
Let’s hope this increased whale activity will continue for 3-4 weeks!
Enjoy!
-Krisztina/Orca Channel