Today we were in the huge metropolitan city of Husavik.
Húsavík is on the northeast coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay, and has a huge population of 2,485!!!! Húsavík even has an airport. This was a much larger town than our most recent remote visits.
The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. That said, it became even more famous in 2020. Húsavík served as the setting of the 2020 Netflix film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, a comedic story of two Húsavík natives representing Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest, with one of the film's songs named after the town. The song itself was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 93rd Academy Awards. And since a scene was filmed at the church it is now even more famous.
I went out for a 3 hour whale watching cruise. Húsavík has become a centre of whale watching in Iceland due to whales of different species that frequently enter the bay. And while Iceland continues to allow whale hunting (Icelanders don't eat much whale meat-- it's mainly tourists that do) but by having tourists come for whale watching the country has forbidden whale hunting here in this area.
The naturalists on the boat said many people had been sick due to rough seas the prior day so David decided to stay back. The sea actually wasn't too bad.
Iceland is also the home to more than 60% of the Earth’s entire Atlantic puffin population. It is estimated that 8-10 million puffins inhabit the country each summer. Just 4.5 nautical miles north of Húsavík is a small island called Lundey, what translates as Puffin Island. Even though Puffin Island reaches 34m above sea and is only about 200 m long and 100 m wide it becomes home for 200,000 puffins during the breeding season. They return year after year to the rich feeding grounds in Skjálfandi Bay. Puffins only stay during the summer months, during their breeding season, so the best time to see them is between May and August, so unfortunately we missed them on our visit.
But our vessel did see a Minke whale, but he was too fast for me to catch a view.
We saw two different Humpback whales at different intervals on the trip. The highlight "Whoaaa" moment happened when one of them breeched the water. Whale breaching is when a whale leaps out of the water. This behaviour is thought to serve various purposes, including communication, social signalling, and possibly removing parasites from their skin. Apparently breeching is rare in colder climates so even the naturalist was excited.
We also saw playful White-Beaked dolphins. which are endemic t o the cold temperate and subarctic waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. White-beaked dolphins are most commonly found in four locales: on the Labrador Shelf close to southwestern Greenland, around Iceland, off the northern and eastern coasts of Britain, and off the coast of Norway.
In the afternoon David and I spent a couple of relaxing hours in the hot pools at Geosea.
For centuries, the geothermal heat north of Húsavík has been known to residents, who have utilized it for bathing and washing. Drilling for hot water at Húsavíkurhöfði in the mid-20th century revealed water that turned out to be hot seawater, too rich in minerals to be suitable for heating houses. Instead of letting this hot water go to waste, an old cheese barrel was installed at Húsavíkurhöfði. There, Húsavík residents could enjoy the health benefits of bathing in hot seawater. Those suffering from skin conditions such as psoriasis have found relief by bathing in the water, which is at an optimal temperature of 38°-39°C. The water is so hot that they have to mix seawater with it to cool it down before humans can stand the heat without literally boiling.
The water in the GeoSea sea baths comes from two drillholes, one located by the cheese barrel and the other by Húsavík harbor. There is no need to use any cleaning agents or equipment, as the steady flow of water from the drillholes, between the pools, over their edges and into the sea ensures that the water stays within the limits stipulated by health regulations.
So after a shower we stepped outside into the cool afternoon air and quickly made our way to the hot waters. The views from the negative edge pool of the fjord were mesmerising. A very pleasant and relaxing way to spend a few hours.
In reality the ship was supposed to have left earlier in the day in order to make it to Eskifjordur the following morning. But the weather forecast showed a big storm near there so Silversea decided to spend the night here in port (meaning we will miss Eskifjordur) and had arranged this visit to the spa at the last minute. We were very impressed at how well they looked after us. They even created a special chocolate dessert buffet for us in the evening. Yum, yum.
We finally left port early the next morning to head into the storm.