Speed and Fin Whales – 2023

Every day is different, and you never really know what will happen during the day. One thing is sure, though, when the animals use speed to get somewhere, they have a good reason.

We saw massive feedings with fin whales, orcas, and humpback whales today and yesterday.

It was a game changer that the commercial fishing activity finished, and natural feeding activity exploded. (It must have something to do with the fact that December is quite a dark month, and the herring is probably closer to the surface during “daytime,” too.)

This morning, we started to cruise together with a pod of orcas. Slowly, we were alone with them. Suddenly, the leading female started to porpoise and jump, increasing the speed to 11-13 knots. A minute later, the whole pod started to rush after her synchronized. It was extraordinary…

If you look at one of the photos where the female hits the water, I think she is pregnant. She is enormous in the photo.

When we arrived, seagulls were already in a feeding frenzy with some orcas present, and I quickly realized the fin whales were on the perimeter. They did not need much time to lunge into the middle of the orca’s baitball, like rockets.

Fin whales are much faster than the humpback whales. The herring school must have been immense, and the orcas were very determined because even the fin whales did not break the party. It went on. After the third lunging of the fin whales, the orcas realized they had to look for something else.

They turned up the gear again and rushed to the next place, where another was feeding. Orcas are very adaptable animals. From my impression, they learned that the competition for food is severe, and they have to be fast and get to a feeding faster than the baleen whales.

And the whole day went on like this. The fjord must be full of herring to keep (hopefully) orcas, fin, and humpback whales fed.