Whale Watching In The Arctic

Whale watching in the Arctic is a unique experience. Here, on a whale watching holiday, depending on the time of year you visit, you have the chance to see humpback and bowhead whales, orca (killer whales), minke, the rare white beluga and even the mighty blue whale, the world’s largest mammal.

The humpback is probably the whale you are most likely to see on a whale watching holiday. It is found all over the world but feeds in the summer in polar waters. It is so called because of its distinctive body shape and the way it breaks surface and then dives. It is a particularly active animal and the lucky will be thrilled to witness a humpback diving into the air as it breaches.

Bowhead whales are another baleen type of whale but are only found in the Arctic and sub-Arctic; unlike other species, they do not migrate. After the blue whale, this is the heaviest species with adults reaching up to 100 tonnes in weight.

Also a baleen type that is regularly seen when whale watching in the Arctic, the minke whale is a black/gray colour. Common minke whales (Northern Hemisphere variety) are distinguished from other whales by a white band on each flipper. The body is usually black or dark-gray above and white underneath and most of the length of the back, including dorsal fin and blowholes, appears at once when the whale surfaces to breathe. Minke whales typically live for 30–50 years; in some cases they may live for up to 60 years.

Orca are also to be seen on a whale watching holiday in other parts of the world, but beluga or white whale is only found in Arctic waters, mostly close to the coasts of Greenland, Canada and Alaska.

A holiday whale watching in the Arctic is complete when a blue whale surfaces close to your ship or, even better, your zodiac. This magnificent creature was hunted to the edge of extinction and is now only slowly recovering.

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