ICELAND AND NORWAY TRIP RECAP
WORDS and PICTURES BY TIM YEO
Camera Equipment Used: Sony a6400, Ikelite Housing, 10-18mm lens and dual Kraken, KR-S02 strobes
Iceland:
We started our trip at the world famous dive site Silfra in Iceland. At Silfra, it is possible for divers to touch both the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates at the same time. The water is filtered through porous underground lava for over 30 years, and by the time it reaches the spring that feeds Silfra, it is so pure that it’s drinkable. Visibility is over 100 feet, but good buoyancy is critical as the rocks are covered in algae that will fall off and float in the water if disturbed. For the second dive, we drove 5 minutes to Lake Thingvellir to dive Davidsgja, also known as David’s fissure.
Touching both tectonic plates (L) & Looking up at another diver (R)
Swimming out of the fissure
The next day we decided to dive in the North Atlantic Ocean and headed to a tiny fishing village an hour from Reykjavik called Gardur. We did a 20-foot giant stride off the pier and were greeted by 30-foot visibility around the kelp forest and rocks covered by orange sponges and anemones.
Diving the cold North Atlantic Ocean
Orange sponges and anemones (L) & Cold water flatfish (M) & Pinnacle covered in sponges (R)
We had a free day the following day and did a land tour to see some of the sights in Iceland including the Gullfoss waterfall, Geysir geothermal area, and Kerid crater.
Kerid crater (L) & Gullfoss waterfall (R)
Norway:
After a very enjoyable and successful trip to Iceland, we were all excited for the main event— orcas in Norway. We flew from Reykjavik to Tromso and after spending a night in Tromso we were picked up for a 5-hour bus transfer to Skjervoy. Since it was 5 pm by the time we arrived in Skjervoy, the sun had already set 3 hours ago. So we checked into our liveaboard, the Maroy, had an excellent dinner, and watched the first in a series of 1-hour nightly presentations by USEA (Undersea Soft Encounter Alliance) founder and orca expert, Pierre Robert de Latour. Topics included types of orca behavior, interacting with orcas in the water, herring migration patterns, humpback whales and orcas, etc.
Day 1 of Orca Encounters
Breakfast was at 8 am and consisted of freshly baked bread, hard boiled eggs, and cold cuts of meat. Since there were multiple reports and sightings of orcas just outside of Skjervoy, we left the Maroy in the harbor and boarded the zodiac at 9:30 am in search of orcas. By 10 am we saw our first pod of orcas and by 10:30 am, we did our first drop in the water and saw our first orcas in the water. What an amazing start to the trip!
By 1:30 pm, the sun was starting to set, so we headed back to the Maroy to have some hot steaming soup. The first day was a great success with a total of 5 drops where we saw orcas in the water on all but 1 drop. We saw about 50-100 orcas from the zodiac and about 20-30 orcas in the water.
Day 2 of Orca Encounters
Reports that the orcas had moved west meant taking the Maroy out to look for orcas. After about 4 hours of searching during the available daylight hours, we didn’t get in the water but were treated to a congregation of 100 humpback whales on the surface. There were spouts all over the boat at any one time. Some of the humpbacks were also socializing with breaches and tail and fin slaps.
Dinners on the Maroy were some of the best liveaboard meals I’ve had. The dishes were all expertly prepared with tasty sauces and accompanied by fresh breads and salads. Dinner on Day 2 was duck and turkey breast with a chocolate hoisin sauce. Day 1 we had perfect poached Norwegian cod with a cream sauce. All sorts of dietary restrictions (e.g., vegetarian, gluten-free) were easily catered for by the kitchen staff.
Day 3 of Orca Encounters
The Maroy left Skjervoy just before sunrise at 8:30 am on Day 3 and headed north to try and find the orcas. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate any humpbacks or orcas so we spent the day enjoying the breathtaking scenery cruising around the fjords.
Our sister boat the Bergsund (L) & View of Skjervoy on the way back to port (R)
Since we had not been in the water for a couple days, some of us decided to do a dive when we got back to Skjervoy. It ended up being a night dive because we started at 4:30 pm, which was after the sun had already set. We set up our scuba gear in the zodiac and motored 5 minutes to the edge of the breakwall to the dive site. We backrolled into the icy cold dark waters only to be surprised by an abundance of life.
Hermit crab on top of an urchin shell (L) & Lots of shrimp and other macro subject to be found (R)
Decorator crab (R) & Hermit crab (L)
The breakwall rocks that continued underwater were teeming with all kinds of critters like hermit crabs, decorator crabs and shrimps. Descending to the sand at 55 feet, there were Norwegian cod swimming around and we were all very surprised to find a couple monkfish in the sand. Usually deep water fish, they may have been a lot shallower because the water was cool enough at 43F.
We found a couple monkfish at the bottom in 55 feet of water
Baby and juvenile Norwegian cod could be found throughout the dive
Day 4 of Orca Encounters
After 2 days of orcas eluding us, we set off again on Day 4 on the Maroy and headed further north out of the fjord. There weren’t any signs of orcas for the first couple of hours until we found a few orca pods near the tiny fishing village of Arviksand. We managed a few drops and everyone had incredible encounters with orcas.
We had to travel quite far north to locate the orcas, so the Maroy spent the night in Arviksand. Since we were out of the city with a lot less light pollution, we disembarked from the boat after dinner and hiked to the edge of the marina and managed to catch the magical northern lights, which danced before our eyes for over an hour.
The Northern Lights danced for us for over an hour in Arviksand
We were also fortunate to see the Northern Lights in Tromso
Day 5 of Orca Encounters
Because Day 4 was so good, the expectations for Day 5 were high. There were also reports that orcas were still in the area. The Maroy left port at sunrise and we immediately found a hundred humpback whales and orcas in the area. With not too many boats this far north, we spent the entire daylight hours jumping in and out of the water catching glimpses of orcas.
The highlight of the trip was definitely a few drops on Day 5, which included a bait ball where both humpback whales and orcas were gorging themselves on the abundance of herring in the area this time of the year. We all witnessed humpbacks whales lunge feeding the bait balls from below and from the surface. With each lunge, hundreds of herring disappeared into the giant mouths of the humpbacks. But the herring bait balls were so large that more herring were found by the humpback whales and orcas to feed on.
Humpback whale lunge feeding from the bottom (R) & A male orca eating herring after stunning them with a powerful slap (M) & Fish scales all over after the orcas were done feeding
Orcas have a more methodical feeding method. Each pod would encircle a small amount of herring into a bait ball and stun them with an underwater tail slap. The orcas would then take turns feeding on individual herring while some would keep the bait ball together. The orcas would also only eat the belly and meaty parts of the herring and spit out the head and spine. What an incredible day in the water and we were all very blessed to have witnessed this amazing wonder of nature.
Day 6 of Orca Encounters
Day 6 was disembarkation day, so we had one last day on the water. The Maroy stayed in the harbor and we took the zodiac out as orcas had already been spotted in the fjord just outside of Skjervoy. The weather was perfect, with the sun just above the horizon in a cloudless sky. That also meant that it was freezing cold and after a couple hours of following a few pods of orcas and humpback whales from the zodiac, we decided to turn around early and head back to the Maroy to get warm and start packing for our transit back to Tromso.
Overall, we had an amazing trip, and we are already planning our next trip back. Iceland and Norway are not your typical relaxing tropical dive trip, but rather both make for incredibly challenging (but satisfying) experiences. The Maroy liveaboard was also not a luxury liveaboard, and it could get quite uncomfortable in the zodiac with the cold and tight quarters. Regardless, these discomforts were well worth it when we dipped our heads underwater and glimpsed orcas and humpback whales putting on several fantastic once-in-a-lifetime shows.
