There are so many whales in Greenlandic waters, it is impossible to not see them. That is, unless you are thetwinsontour. Remember that midnight ice fjord cruise we took the other day? They ALWAYS see whales swimming around the icebergs. ALWAYS. There is even a name for the tunnels that form in the icebergs–whale garages because whales like to hang out there in the rain so that they don’t get wet (at least that’s the story they tell the tourists.) Did we see any whales amongst the glorious icebergs? Nope! Not a single one.

It’s also really common to see whales as you are walking along the boardwalk to get to the iceberg vista. We walked there twice and did not see a whale.

I’ve also heard people say that they watched whales frolicking in the bay from their hotel room windows.  My room has a giant window facing the bay. Have I seen a single whale from my hotel room? Nope! Not a single one.

So disappointing!

We decided today is the day we are finding some whales! When we looked last night, most of the whale watches were fully booked, but we did find a 10am tour. This seemed ideal because we could do this in the morning, eat lunch, and then have the afternoon free to explore or hike. The perfect plan! We even walked down the hill to the harbor last night to scout out our meeting place and time the walk from the hotel. We were super prepared!

This morning, we walked down our pre-scoped out route to the harbor, and then we realized it was cruise ship day which means mass chaos and complete pandemonium. There were people in matching blue coats everywhere. No one looked like they were there for a whale watch tour. I kept scanning the crowd for someone to confirm that I was indeed in the right place and had indeed found the right spot during our reconnaissance. I finally found a friendly looking Danish guy that was not with the cruise ship crowd, and he confirmed I was indeed in the correct place, and the boat would show up soon. That was a relief because I was worried I would become one with the faceless cruise ship masses and miss my whale watch. Finally we saw a little yellow boat with the tour company name pull up next to the cruise ship tender. What a relief!

Do you know why I couldn’t find anyone else that looked like they were on our whale watch? Because we were the only 2 people! It ended up being a private tour even though we booked it at the last minute. It was a tiny little boat, so it would have been crowded with more people.With our hearts full of hope, we headed north to the heart of whale country.  The driver said he can usually see them right near the harbor, but we saw nothing. We drove and drove with our eyes constantly scanning the horizon,  but we couldn’t find any whales.

Finally, after about an hour, we stopped by a cliff full of nesting birds. There were thousands of them sqwacking and flying around.  It is a government protected site.  Our driver wasn’t sure if they migrate or are there year round because he is from southern Greenland just here for a summer job. While we took pictures of the evil birds, he scanned the horizon for whales. Alas, there were none. We started back to town, ever vigilant for signs of whale life. It was like we were living in a wide, wide world without wonderous whales (can’t think of anymore Ws to continue the alliteration at the moment). We spotted some seals, but they dove deep before we could even grab our cameras. So sad.

Before we knew it, our 2.5 hour whale watch was over, and we had not seen a single whale. I am not sure who was more upset, the driver for not delivering any whale sightings or thetwinsontour for being under a whale curse. I get the feeling that usually whales are just like the squirrels and birds in Snow White’s forest, just flocking around and impossible to avoid because they are dancing at your feet.

With heavy whaleless hearts, we headed back up the hill to our hotel. But, as you should know, thetwinsontour do not take no for an answer when it comes to whales! We were determined that today would be a whaley great day!

I pulled up my phone and found a whale watch for 3pm, and I BOOKED IT WITHOUT THINKING TWICE. Talk about last minute–we only had about an hour and a half before our second whale watch of the day. We quickly scarfed down suitcase food and suitcase snacks for lunch. Sorry, I do not have time to explain the intricacies of purse snacks versus backpack snacks versus suitcase snacks. This is a blog about whales, not the eating habits of thetwinsontour.

We raced back down the hill to the boat dock. This time around we knew how to avoid the cruisers. We saw a little green boat powering into the bay, but the cruise tinder was hogging the dock while they waited on one person to hobble down the hill. As soon as the tinder pulled away, another boat swooped into the dock. Our little green boat was determined, though! They just hooked up to that interloper and had us cut across that boat to get to ours. Then we were out of there–moral of the story–don’t mess with the green boat!

This was not a private tour this go around. There were 6 other people. Luckily, the outside viewing area was large enough for all of us. They told us we were headed about half an hour north because whales had been spotted there. I was immediately skeptical as we had been north earlier and there was not a single whale. However, like I said–never doubt the little green boat. They quickly led us to a group of 3 humpback! (It probably helps that there were 2 other boats stopped watching.)

As you might have guessed, it was amazing! You never know where the whales will surface, kinda like whack-a-mole. However, the best trick is to watch the sea gulls. If the gulls start squawking and converging on the water, this is where the whales will be! The whales are pushing fish to the surface, and those gulls want that fish! (Especially since there is no place for them to get French fries.) Then you will hear the whoosh of air coming from the whale’s blowhole, then their backs swimming along, arching into the water, and finally a tail fin flip as they dive down into the water for more fish. Over and over. There is about 5 minutes or so between each cycle. We watched this phenomena for 2 full hours. I was actually getting whale fatigue, when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye, I saw a whale breach completely out of the water! Of course I didn’t catch it on camera, and neither did anyone else. I never saw them do it again. I don’t even know how these things can leap in the air like that. I can barely hoist myself out of the swimming pool. These things are 14 meters long and weigh 25 tons! They are massive!

Lesson learned, I did not take my eyes off the water for the remainder of the tour. Of course, the whale never breached again.

Now, for the record, here is something thetwinsontour will never do: kayak amongst whales! Crazy tourists (I think they were German) showed up and put kayaks in the water and kept paddling toward the whales! Just, nope! What if they flipped you? How can you take photos and paddle for dear life at the same time? Just nope. We headed back to the harbor soon after the kayaks showed up, so I didn’t have to watch them gleefully risking life and limb.

For dinner we decided to walk into town for a local experience. We had decided on the Ilulissat Café for–wait for it–Pad Thai! (How so many restaurants have Thai food, I do not know.) This variation of Pad Thai was good, but with a Greenlandic twist–green beans and baby carrots!

That pretty much sums up Day 4 in Greenland. Much more adventure still to come!

Love,
thetwinsontour