Meeting the Whales
It only took about an hour to spot our first whale, at which time we were summoned to the rear of the boat to don our dry suits. These consisted of an all in one rubber suit reminiscent of the chemical suits we used in the fire brigade. Underneath the rubber 'dry suit' we would wear another all in one fur lined zip.
It took two people to help us into the suits but once they were in place we were a little more confident of staying alive in the water - in fact we were roasting!
From here we boarded out zodiac dingy and set off in pursuit of the whales. They were everywhere. We counted over twenty different ones just where we were and there were more in the distance.
Once we had been taken to a good spot we were invited to enter the water. There was no graceful way of dong this - you just sit on the side of the dingy and fall in!
Our fears were dispelled immediately. In truth we were warmer in the water than we were sat in the boats! We had to make two attempts to get up close to the whales but the second attempt was certainly worth the effort of getting back into the zodiac and jumping out again further on.
It was decided that we would 'park' right in the path of an approaching school, they were perhaps a couple of hundred metres away at the time. We would enter the water in their path and wait for them to get to us, and the wait was well worth it. The whales swam up to and then under the zodiac. I was snorkelling face down next to the zodiac as they passed underneath and they passed within feet of me well within view. The sight of these majestic creatures swimming within feet of me knowing that they were literally granting me permission to be there was nothing short of magnificent. I was moved emotionally and my reaction was nothing less than childlike. It was a dream come true. Not only was I watching whales but also, for a few short seconds, I was swimming with them.
Once we boarded our boat again the rest of the day was a series of watching whales, drinking soup and keeping warm. As promised, we lost what little daylight there had been by around two thirty so our attention turned to watching the sunset over the mountains. Stunning sights to say the least. We returned to the airport following a short trip around the town of Narvik, (now there's one to cross off the goal list of must see places) and boarded our flight back to Humberside.