Whose privilege ?

It's about 5 o'clock PM. The leaflet in my hands says that we will be given thermal sailing outfits during the whale-watching trip, even though when we board the Haukur, the temperature is mild, so I'm wearing just a polar fleece and a windproof jacket. Mild, for Husavik, a harbor town in the north of Iceland, is more or less what I'm used to in winter, in Lisbon, my home city. Still I think that what I'm wearing is enough, but when the boat starts leaving the harbor and gaining speed, the chill goes right to my bones. I put on my gloves and wool hat, and prepare myself for the three hour trip.

The Haukur (icelandic for Hawk) is a two-mast schooner, the last of its kind in Iceland. According to our guide, Nils, these boats were used for shark fishing on the 19th century, and this particular boat, even though it was not a schooner originally, was converted in order to recreate the feeling of sailing in the northern Atlantic. It is now used for the "Whales and Sails" trip, in the bay of Skjalfandi, off the coast of Husavik.

For some time we went on without seeing any animals, but Nils kept reassuring us that North Sailing had a 95% record of sightings and that he himself had seen whales on every trip he went on, so we were confident. I was hoping to see some humpbacks, given that they are the most playful species, and I secretly had the hope of photographing some whale breaching. Our first encounter, though, was with a white-beaked dolphin. We followed him for a while but eventually he got tired of all the attention and went his own way. After a while we spotted another animal and this time there was no mistake, it was a humpback. This one however, was a bit shy, and all I could get was a glimpse of a white flipper but it was too quick for me even to try and take a photograph.

We were still near the place where we spotted the humpback when I saw the captain point to the horizon and heard him shout "Blue Whale !". Now if you follow these stories, particularly one of my first ones, you have a pretty good idea of how I felt when I heard him. My bones chilled again, but this time not because of the weather. I could not believe I would be near the biggest animal ever to live on the planet. At first we could only see the spouts, but even the spouts were huge, going 5 or 6 meters high, or sometimes even more.

As the boat approached we noticed that it was not one blue whale but a couple. And they were feeding, oblivious of our presence. The boat slowed down almost to a halt and we just stayed there admiring these magnificent animals. I could only see the last third of their bodies when they came out of the water, but it was enough to see that they were gigantic. The flukes (tail fins) alone were about 5 or 6 meters in diameter, about the length of the boat. At some point one of the animals passed right under the boat because I saw part of its body come out of the water near the hull, still I was not afraid. These animals could turn the boat or smash its hull anytime they wanted, however they were just happy to be there feeding. It makes me think that nature, no matter how powerful, will respect us if we treat it with respect.

After we left, we passed Lundey (Puffin Island), to watch some puffins, and on our way back the captain stopped the engines, and unfurled the beautiful red sails of the Haukur. There was not much wind, just a breeze, but it would be enough to take us back to Husavik. As soon as the engines stopped we could just sit back and listen to the waves. Soon after, Nils offered us some hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls, and told us that it's an old custom, if the captain thinks his crew is worthy, to give them some of his rum. It is called "Captain's Privilege". It turned out we were worthy enough, so we formed a small queue and one by one he poured a few rum in our mugs of hot chocolate. As I drank, feeling the beverage heat my throat, I thought about the experience I had just witnessed. The rum may be the captain's privilege, but being near a pair of the biggest animals that ever lived on Earth, in their own environment, is something that not many people will be able to witness in their lifetime. That, was my privilege.