SCINTILLATING SCANDINAVIA

This amazingly exquisite European country is popular, not only among people, but indubitably, among whales too. These majestic sea creatures live in the country’s seas and are frequently spotted during the warm months in summer. Instead of the infamous whale hunting grounds, tour companies take the visitors to common locations where these whales can be seen. The country is striving to eradicate the commercial whaling, which leads to depleting number of these magnificent creatures in the sparkling waters of the oceans. The different types of whales that can be found here are Orcas, Sperm whales, Blue whales, Bottlenose whales etc. The hot-spot for spotting is the shore along Husavik. The tour not only provides whale spotting, but also promises another trial if the whales do not appear any day. Apart from these, other marine creatures like the white-beaked dolphins, arctic birds and harbor porpoises can also be sighted.

The whales start migrating past the Iceland coasts to the warmer seas outside the Arctic Circle from the month of April to October. They can be easily seen by the spray of water from their ‘sprouts’ and by ‘Breaching’ i.e. leaping in and out of water. Professional whale safaris are available from Reykjavik, a port city and other locales along with luxury accommodations.

Another famous place for whale watching is the Andenes (Vesteralen) where the ocean depths of 3000 ft create an excellent habitat for the huge sperm whales that come there from May-September. These islands are located in the extremely northern parts of the country and present extraordinary views of many breath-taking sights like the Northern Lights. Lofoten Islands consists of a special “Whale Route” that connects various islands that inhabit whales, for tourists to enjoy the sights.

Other Wildlife in the country:

The other mammals that are found in the country include the beaver that is not easy to spot due to its few numbers, the American minks that are non-native mammals, the musk ox, from Greenland but lives only in the mountains, the European moose that are unfortunately killed due to rail or road accidents, the Eurasian red squirrel that has a red coat in summer and a grey coat in winter, the reindeer that are native to and domesticated in the country and live in herds etc. A wide variety of snakes like the viper and water snake and birds like the Buzzards, Swans and Crows also live here.