Iceland Day 8: Botnsvatn take two and whale watching

Our last day in Húsavík, we went back up the hill to Botnsvatn and hiked around the lake again, this time with J and E.

The light greens are mosses; the emerald greens are lupines. Hear the lupines dehiscing here.

We heard loons before we saw them, then spent 20 minutes trying to catch them in photos.

In the afternoon, with much less wind than on our first attempt on Sunday, we went on a puffin-and-whale watching tour out of Húsavík.

Our first destination was Lundey (Lund = puffin, ey = island), where some 220,000 puffins come to nest every year. In mid-August, they collectively head out to sea for the winter.

Click on the photo and squint to see several puffins in the water

Icelandic law requires tourists to wear insulated suits for whale watching. The tour company we went with hasn't lost anyone overboard in their 25 years of operation, but still, 7-10^oC water is cold, and it was windy enough that we very much appreciated the extra layers.

From Lundey, we headed across the fjord in search of humpback whales. All of the whale watching boats cluster wherever people see whales; I don't have photos of the clusters, but did get some photos of whales.

Looking south. No whales yet, but a sailboat...

Another sailboat

Another whale watching boat and a humpback whale. The whale is longer than the boat, but mostly hidden under the water.

I learned it is hard to take photos of distant whales and puffins from a rocking boat, so that's all you get to see, dear readers.

After the tour, S and I headed up to Húsavík's geothermally heated outdoor hot pools for a quick soak. Bare bones but toasty and beautiful, especially for the brief time before a tour group descended.

Sunset from the hill where the hot tubs sit. There be whales out there...