Sperm Whales

Since we usually don't go to bed before midnight, our days start quite leisurely. Getting up at 10:00, having breakfast, doing a little tidying up or playing.

That's how it was today too, so there wasn't much time left until the whale expedition at 14:45.

We bundled up because even though it was quite warm and almost windless, we would be out at sea for more than 4 hours.

But first, there was a guided tour about sperm whales, so that we would know what we (hopefully) will see today. Konstantin already knew almost everything, of course. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see a skeleton up close and to learn practical details about the life of the sperm whales that are not written in books.

The tour was entertaining and then we went straight to the ship.

The coast near Andenes is one of the few areas worldwide where sperm whales can be reliably sighted and easily accessible to humans. The main reason is a deep trench in the earth's crust where giant squid live.

We had to sail on the sea for a good hour until the ship stopped and the captain said he could hear the clicking sounds of the sperm whale with the hydrophone. Then a short ride and indeed, from a greater distance, we could spot the first sperm whale.

Sperm whales surface to breathe about 10 minutes after their long dives, which can go as deep as 2-3 kilometers and last around 1 hour.

A few minutes later, we saw the second one at a short distance. This one was much closer than the allowed 100 meters distance, as it surfaced directly near the ship. We could clearly see the blowhole, which is slightly crooked, the back, and when diving, the large fluke.

Now everyone was excited and the mobile phones and cameras were working overtime.

We saw 2 more sperm whales and even a minke whale in the sunset. Minke whales are much shyer than sperm whales and do not stay at the surface for long. Therefore, photos are only accidental shots or due to high endurance.

Impressed and satisfied, we returned to the harbor hoping to see a group of killer whales. Unfortunately, this hope was not fulfilled.

At the harbor, we made a detour to the local museum and the lighthouse. For this, we missed the opening hours of the nearby pizzeria - it was almost 22:00. We then had pasta in the motorhome.