LATEST NEWS - December 2009
ORCA TYSFJORD - 2008/2009 season

Wednesday 31st of December

We survived Yngve!!

Yngve is the name of the fifth extreme storm in Norway this year. And we got this one over our head this morning! It was really bad in Lofoten, and also here we got heavy winds and great waves. We decided to postpone the trip a little, before our captains gave green light to sail out.

As soon as we were on the water, we were surrounded by a wall of snow. Nothing to see, only us sailing around on the Norwegian sea. We looked for shelter in Stefjord, the first one of the 7 arms of Tysfjord, and when we reached the end of this fjord suddenly the clouds got a little thinner and we could see the top of Stetind, the national mountain of Norway! We were happy like children with this and picture after picture got taken. Suddenly we got company of our zodiac, they made a few fast turns around Leonora and then disappeared in the mist again. Right after they left it started to blow a lot and we could see the snow flying up from the mountain ridge. Fantastic!

When we came out of Stefjord it cleared up and beautiful light appeared from the west! The waves were a bit better and our zodiac went to have a look at Bekkenesholmen. Around 14:30 we were all back home. We didn´t see the orcas, but this was a great stormy day with some nice weather surprises:)

A very happy New Year to everyone and let´s hope that the orcas want to celebrate the start of the new year with us tomorrow!!

Lynne

Tuesday 30th of December

Today was pretty much the same kind of weather and trip as yesterday. But today it was the people on the zodiacs turn to find a special mammal – at Skarberget they saw a nice otter!

We tried a few times to put our nose out in Vestfjord, but every time we were chased back by the wind and the waves. So we searched in Tysfjord, but no whales there…. Just before entering the harbour we got new hope, because there were a lot of gulls and one sea eagle very close to the surface. We stared and stared at the sea, eyes fixed on the water like maniacs….but nothing….

Lynne

Monday 29th of December

As usual, we spread out over the fjord – the zodiac towards Vestfjord and Leonora further into Tysfjord. We found some eagles and the people on the big boat even saw a group of reindeer next to Skarberget! With the big boat we drove into Stefjord and had a look at Stetind, our national mountain, while the people on the zodiac were playing around in the waves in Vestfjord:)

No orcas unfortunately, but tomorrow is another day and we will go out with good hope again!

Today was the last day for our friends Luca and Silvio, who have been spending an endless amount of hours on and in the sea with us. Have a safe journey home, guys! And good luck with all your projects and whatever you do!!

Lynne

Sunday 28th of December

Warmer again, so the snow melted away as quick as it came. But if we can believe the forecast, we can already look forward to some more snow!

We started our search for the whales today by trying to have a look in Vestfjord, but as the waves became higher and higher, we turned into Tysfjord again after a while. Behind Bekkenesholmen many sea eagles showed some interest in our orange boats and one of them came down for an easy meal of frozen herring. We continued further into the fjord in the direction of Drag and returned to the hotel around 14:00.

Tomorrow we will go out with the big boat and the zodiac again and let´s hope that we will have better success with the whales than today….

Lynne

Saturday 27th of December

We woke up in a nice white landscape again. Great to have some fresh snow after a few warmer days!

Today we had another nature safari to Tranøy fyr again, instead of surfing in the waves:) On our way we saw a few eagles and 2 elks and on the small road to the lighthouse suddenly we discovered one lonely reindeer. As we moved our eyes a little upwards, we saw the rest of the group on the top of the hill. It was a large group of maybe 100 animals. At first they ran away and we climbed the hill in order to see them again. Now they were standing down in the valley and from the top of the hill we had a very good view on them.

Many minutes and pictures later we left them alone and continued our way to the lighthouse and afterwards to the village of Tranøy, where we had a look around in the harbour and at the old whaling boat. We had soup and coffee and so on and then returned to the hotel.

Lynne

Friday 26th of December

Yesterday there were orcas in Ofotfjord! So even though it was blowing like hell during the night we had good faith that the luck would be on our side today.

In the morning the wind measurer on our boat in Korsnes indicated a wind speed of more than 20 meters per second! That´s quite a lot, but we wanted to try at least. The first plan of the day was to have a look towards Vestfjord. Here and there we met a sea eagle and we had some of our delicious frozen herrings for 3 of them. The wind was stronger than yesterday and as far as we could see the sea was covered with white caps. It was a bit choppy and wet, but despite the liters and liters of salt water that got thrown over our heads and in our faces and driven by our desire to see the orcas, we kept our eyes fixed on the water….

Once we went further into Tysfjord it got nice and calm, we even got blue sky and Mother of Pearl Clouds! But no whales….

Lynne

Thursday 25th of December

The weather changed - it´s a bit rainy and much warmer now, so the snow is melting away. For the first time in a very long period we can see the grass again. It was also very windy today. We got some good waves and some of us got soaking wet, but we had the greatest fun bouncing up and down on the waves. Good to be out on a day like this!

No orcas, but there were some other nice animals around. We saw some sea eagles and some people even had the luck to see a flock of reindeer nearby Skarberget! That´s also very special, because we only see them a few times a season.

At the end of the trip the snorkelers extended the fun with some jumping from the pier into the water. It seemed that they couldn´t stop, they jumped and jumped and jumped!

Lynne

Wednesday 24th of December

A nice day with the big boat and the zodiac again. The big one went into Tysfjord and the little one took Vestfjord. Except the ferries it seemed that we were all alone on the sea, which was also a special experience. The zodiac people got to stand some waves, but they didn´t bother and crossed the fjord towards Offersøy. There they landed for some minutes to have a piece of chocolate and a cup of hot toddy. We on the big boat spotted a small group of harbour porpoises in Haukøyfjord. They came up to breath a few times and then they disappeared as suddenly as they appeared.

It was a very nice trip on the fjord, with nice light, eagles and a few porpoises. Actually we also wanted some little orcas for Christmas Eve. Did Santa forget about us? Maybe we get them for Christmas tomorrow….

Lynne

Tuesday 23rd of December

A splendid day on the sea!

The sky was orange on one side and blue and pink on the other side and the water was flatter than flat. The day started with a look at Skarberget, where we saw a sea eagle coming down to the surface to pick up one of our frozen herrings. Behind the small island of Bekkenesholmen we found two more interested eagles. They circled and circled around our boat, but they didn´t come down. After this we continued our way into Vestfjord. On the way home we saw a special phenomenon, named Mother of Pearl Clouds, which occurs sometimes at these latitudes. We only observe this a few times a winter! Great! In the mist we entered the harbour after an orcaless, but very nice and beautiful day on the sea.

Lynne

Monday 22nd of December

Orcas today!!

We went out with two zodiacs in two different directions. One of us went out in Vestfjord, while the other one wanted to check further into Tysfjord. The honour was for the first ones today, when Yasmin discovered a group of approximately 7 orcas around Barøy. The others got informed at once and they hurried out of Tysfjord, towards the other zodiac and the whales. After we had been spending some time with them, the group disappeared and there was only one big male left, who showed us some playful behaviour. He turned upside down, waved with his flipper and slapped with his tail on the water. Great!

After some days without whales it´s so nice to have a day like this – calm sea, beautiful light and orcas of course!

Tonight we can put another sticker on the map! Yeah!

Lynne

Sunday 21st of December

Today was the shortest day of the year. From now on we can start to look forward to the return of the sun and the light:)

This morning it was so so dark when we left the harbour, but we rather like to be a bit too early on the water than too late, since we are limited in daylight at this time of the year. But soon we got to see more and more of the landscape and under a blue sky we scanned the vast ocean. A little later the sky turned white and the grey clouds closed around our boat. There came the snow! A little later clear sky again. And snow again. It shifted a lot during the day.

We didn´t get to see the orcas, but while approaching the harbour we got such a nice winter image. Very nice light, completely flat sea and the small village of Korsnes covered with snow. It was soooo beautiful!

Lynne

Saturday 20th of December

New day, new try, new hope….

The storm and the rain were gone, which gave us the possibility to enjoy the fantastic landscape and great light. We made a short stop in Lødingen to refill the gasoline and to eat some tasty fish soup. In the harbour we met a big group of eider ducks. After lunch we continued our search for the whales, eyes glued to the binoculars….but they didn´t show up…. While it was getting dark, we took a look at Skarberget before turning towards the harbour.

Lynne

Friday 19th of December

Yesterday it was too windy to go out, but today we tried again.

It was impossible to go out in Vestfjord because there was a storm coming from the south west, so we stayed in the more sheltered Tysfjord. It was a bit dark and rainy, but we know that it´s also possible to find whales in this weather, so we scanned the sea and hoped for the best. But nothing....

Around noon we gathered behind Bekkenesholmen with the people on the zodiac in order to throw some fish for our eagle friends. After this we returned to the harbour and at 14:00 we were all back in the hotel.

Lynne

Wednesday 17th of December

Still windy, but at least we were able to go out today. As soon as we were in the fjord, we found our usual bunch of sea eagles waiting for us. It was a bit hard to scan the sea in this rough weather, we did our best, but we couldn´t discover any fins. Especially on the way back home we had to face some big waves. Liters and liters of salt water were thrown over our heads and made us soaking wet. Fortunately it was not cold, so we could have fun in the waves without freezing.

No orcas, but this was a great experience of being on the sea in the north of Norway!!

Lynne

Tuesday 16th of December

Due to very strong winds our captain decided this morning that is was not possible for us to go out on the sea today. So we went on a nature safari to Tranøy lighthouse instead. We watched the waves splashing over the rocks and there was even an otter running around. Afterwards we went to the harbour, where we had a look at the old whaling boat and where we ate soup in our improvised “Red Cross camp” :)

Waves, beautiful scenery, eagles, many herons, an otter and a little elk – not too bad I would say:)

Lynne

Monday 15th of December

Today we could enjoy such a wonderful light, reflecting in the mirror flat sea!

We went all the way in to Stefjord, where we could look up at the top of our steep national Stetind. At the cliff of Skarberget we found some hungry eagles, we fed them and they performed for us:)

No orcas today, but we had the greatest fun and dancing and cheering we entered the misty harbour.

Lynne

Saturday 13th of December

The orcas are back!!

This morning we started by going into Tømmeraasfjord, followed by Stefjord, from where we had a very good view on Stetind – Norway´s national mountain. After we had a look at Skarberget we thought it was maybe a good idea to check around the island of Bekkenesholmen as well. And indeed, that turned out to be a very good choice - because suddenly one of our guests spotted some orcas between Skarberget and Bekkenesholmen! Great!

It was a group of 10-12 animals and they had a little baby with them. We were the only two boats around and the whales were very calm and relaxed. We could spend more than an hour with the orcas, so there was plenty of time to enjoy and the snorkelers could try to see them under the water as well.

Afterwards we also got to see some sea eagles, extremely close to the boat! One of them almost landed IN the boat! Crazy!

Whales, eagles, nice weather, great light, snow, beautiful mountains, full moon….what more can you ask for….

Lynne

Friday 12th of December

A bit more windy than the last days, so quite bumpy and wet on the sea. As it got colder, we turned up the volume of the music. This trick always works - it makes people moving and jumping, forgetting about the cold and staying warm:)

We saw many sea eagles. By now some of them know us and our frozen fish:) Very often they follow the boats, waiting for an easy meal. It´s always a very impressive sight when they come down to the water. First they are circling around and then suddenly they start to fall and snatch the fish with their sharp claws. Huge birds!

But where are the whales? We hope to see them soon again….

Lynne

Thursday 11th of December

What an awesome day!

No whales unfortunately, but we could enjoy some extraordinary nice light, reflecting in the mirror flat sea…. I don´t even want to try to describe how it was, because I know I will never even get close to an accurate image. Sometimes words are not enough….

Lynne

Wednesday 10th of December

Another beautiful day on the fjords - with clear sky, orange and pink light, almost full moon and great sea eagles! Since it was so cold in the beginning, there was mist over the water all the way from Sjøvoll, the harbour, up to Tysfjord. It looked very nice! There was only one thing missing….

Lynne

Tuesday 9th of December

And again, we met an elk on our way to the harbour. Thanks to the snow we see so many of them this season! They are just everywhere…. We start to know some of them now and we call them by name – Harald in Storjord, Olaf, Mette-Marit and little Marius in Bognes, King Håkon in Tysnes and many other fellows:)

On the sea it was a big difference to yesterday, it was so much brighter today and not cold at all. Even though the sun stays under the horizon all day long, we can still have amazing light at this time of the year. Today was one of those days that you could see the sunrays shining from under the horizon, up to the sky, colouring the clouds in all variations between pink and red. Absolutely great!

The people on the zodiacs had a look at the beautiful lighthouse of Tranøy and set foot on land in the harbour to warm up a little and to give the snorkelers the chance to go for a swim.

There were a lot of eagles around and on the zodiacs we had a frozen herring for some of them.

On the way back home we could enjoy the almost full moon, shining on the smooth water of Tysfjord….fabulous!

Lynne

Monday 8th of December

Today was the darkest day we've had so far. Fortunately we have the snow, which makes a big big difference. It makes everything much brighter and much nicer. We are having snow now since a long time. And the snow is great! It came with the last full moon and without taking a break it´s still here, and it´s almost the next full moon. It´s many years ago since there was such an amount of snow for such a long time at this time of the year. Lucky us that we can experience this:)

We only went out with the zodiac today. It was not possible to go to Lofoten, people over there told us that it was really stormy out there and not very enjoyable on the sea. But we were able to go over to Lødingen at least, where Anthony had to go into the water to rescue two cameras. We expected rough sea on the way back, but it was actually not too bad. We saw some eagles, but unfortunately no orcas.

Tomorrow we will go out with two zodiacs and the big boat again and as always we will all work together to find the whales….

Lynne

Sunday 7th of December

We started our safari with a few elks on the road to the harbour, and a little later we found ourselves in an orange zodiac under an orange sky. It was a bit windy today, so that meant some waves and good fun:) The orcas from yesterday were not in the area anymore, or maybe they were just hiding for us. But we had the great luck to see a lot of sea eagles! We threw them some frozen fish and they came very close to pick it up from the surface.

Before driving back to the hotel the snorkelers tried their dry suits and had a bath in the harbour. Around 14:00 everyone was back home.

Lynne

Saturday 6th of December

And indeed, great it was! Last night was perfectly clear and some fantastic green Northern Lights were lighting up the sky above the hotel - sometimes very strong, sometimes weak, but present all night long!

Today we had beautiful weather and nice light again and….tada-tada-tadaaaa orcas!!

In the morning we got a phone call that there was a group of at least 7 orcas nearby Skrova. So immediately we changed our speed to maximum and headed for the given position. The zodiacs were earlier than the big boat and could see them a little longer. The snorkelers even had the chance to go into the water and to see them under the surface – an unforgettable experience!

When Leonora arrived, already from a distance we could see that there was a thick snow front waiting for us. We saw the orcas a few times at the surface before they disappeared. Maybe it was due to the snow, maybe they just went away, nobody knows, but that´s the way it goes sometimes. And for sure sometimes it´s the other way around - sometimes the big boat has better luck, sometimes the zodiacs. And we shouldn´t forget that they are wild animals, living free in nature. We cannot force them to stay around our boats – the choice should be up to them. We tried to find them again until it was too dark and around 17:00 we were back in Bognes.

We also heard that the people on the ferry spotted another group of orcas around Barøy. That´s very good news, it means that there were at least two groups in the area.

So, orcas today….and the people who have been here before know what that means: we will have to sing tonight!

Lynne

Friday 5th of December

The last days we´ve had some very nice and successful Northern Light safaris. Elks, foxes, shooting stars and last but not least magnificent Northern Lights! And it looks like it´s gonna be great tonight again!

The weather was perfect today – flat sea and clear sky all day long! And here and there a little nicely coloured cloud. Ideal conditions to spot some whales. We stared and stared at the sea, in order to get a glimpse of a little fin….but the surface remained empty….

At Skarberget we saw a sea eagle and a golden eagle!

Just before soup time we got some new good hope to find orcas. We saw a herring boat busy with the nets, surrounded by sea gulls. Very often the orcas are attracted by the sound of taking in the nets, because they know that that is an opportunity to get an easy meal. But apparently today they were not interested in this boat. Under a blue and orange sky we drove back to Bognes.

A few days ago some fishermen told us that there is more herring coming into the fjord. Let´s hope the orcas know this as well and follow them!

Lynne

Wednesday 3rd of December

Leaving the harbour of Korsnes this morning, already we could see that today´s weather was going to turn out good. With the big boat we checked the beautiful Lofoten side of Vestfjord, while the zodiacs took the mainland side. Unfortunately we couldn´t find any whales, but we had all the time to enjoy the amazing landscape and the great light. Just before darkness we visited the cliff of Skarberget, where we saw many cormorants flying off and on and also a sea eagle.

Hopefully next time….

Lynne

Tuesday 2nd of December

A very beautiful day on the sea, with pink clouds and pink mountains! Fantastic! This was maybe the last day that we could see the sun between the mountains, so we have to enjoy every moment of sunshine:) It would have been even nicer with some orcas, but they didn´t show up.

On the way back home the people who were on the big boat saw an elk, a big male. He was very relaxed and walked through a field with deep snow. At the side of the field he started to eat some trees, not bothering at all about our bus full of tourists with cameras. After we watched him for a while we decided that it was time to go back to the turistsenter. Since we saw him so close to the hotel, some people wanted to have another look at the elk and walked back. He was still in the same field and walked up the hill to the houses. Many minutes he just looked at us - and we at him:) - and then continued his walk. He almost put his big nose against the window of the house, maybe he wanted to check out what they were doing inside there. We could observe him for a long time before he disappeared in the darkness of the woods….

No orcas, but as I said it was a marvelous trip on the sea and that encounter with the king of the forest was just perfect!!

Lynne

Monday 1st of December

With the zodiac we travelled quite a distance today. We left Sjøvoll and drove via Haukøyfjord into Tømmeraasfjord and then via a very narrow passage to Stefjord. From there we had a good view on Stetind, Norway´s national mountain. We continued towards Skarberget where we encountered some sea eagles. Then to Tysnes and out in Vestfjord, where the wind made it a bit bumpy. It was a bit wet, but great fun! After the waves of Vestfjord we turned back towards the more sheltered Tysfjord. Our last stop was behind Bekkenesholmen, where we found a lot of hungry eagles, waiting for us to throw them some fish.

Lynne