Whalers & whale watchers

Posted by at 11:02 AM, July 1, 2004

Hi friends,

I scraped myself out of bed in time to grab my things and meet Tomakint, Irene, Jari, and Christian on the quayside for a morning of whale watching. Tor drove us over to one of the other piers, and as we were preparing to embark, a very angry man on the whale watching ship started yelling at us in Icelandic. He clearly did not want us to board. His mood was aggressive and he turned a hose on us. We all avoided the spray and Jari got his video camera out of the way just in time. The one bit of English we heard was: "I lost my job last time because of Greenpeace!" Irene was totally willing to let the man squirt her with the hose or talk to her, but the ship’s captain led him away and then apologized and welcomed us aboard. That marked the first time during this trip that someone has been confrontational to us. I expected it to happen sooner and more often to tell you the truth, but it shook me a little bit just the same.

Across the way from the Esperanza in Reykjavik harbor is the spot for whale watching tours. There are several ships with big, colorful, friendly signs for whale watching excursions. The whole area is busy with people coming and going, chatting in myriad languages. Everyone looks happy and enthusiastic; money is changing hands; business is booming. Passengers are gearing up with jackets and sunglasses. Kids are running around looking at all the cool stuff. All of these people have come to see the whales.

Ten meters away sits a fleet of whaling ships. They are parked so close together that theytouch. They’re all painted with the same dull palette and they’re mottled with rust as if diseased. They are big. They would have to be of course- whales are big. I look at these haunted ships and I see men at work. They kill for a living. Because they kill animals and not people, they are not called murderers. They are called "whalers".

The whaling ships are not quite old enough. It still looks like they could be fired up, loaded with workers and supplies, and taken out to hunt again. They make me very uncomfortable. I stare at their weathered wooden decks and wonder how much blood has washed over them. I stare at the crow’s nest and imagine the guy whose job it was to stand up there and spot whales so that the ship could chase them down and harpoon them. There’s a guy like that on our whale watching tour, only when he spots whales everyone rushes over to that side of the ship and says "Oooh!" and "Aaah!" They strain to get even a glimpse of the magnificent creatures. When our guy spots a whale, children exclaim: "I see it Mom! I see it!" When our guy spots a whale, no one gets killed.

We saw minke whales today. I thought it fitting somehow that the first whales Tomakint saw in his life were the same ones we are here trying to protect. It was sad knowing that a few Icelanders are out hunting this same species right now. We also saw some beautiful dolphins, and we visited Puffin Island. We took pictures and laughed out loud at each other’s jokes. The Scandinavian trio had a particularly fun time. I snuck downstairs for a hot chocolate and a smooch. Did I say smooch? I meant mooch, as I had forgotten my wallet again. It was a good tour, and it was especially rewarding to see the area around Reykjavik from the water.

Back to the Esperanza for a few minutes to prepare for our excursion to the Blue Lagoon. I was so tired I could barely keep moving, but I helped Tomakint get some gear together and then found my swimsuit and a towel. Soon we were on the road with Tor at the wheel of the van and Helena added to our group. I forgot my camera.

The drive to the pools was really nice actually- my first foray onto Icelandic terra firma more than about 100 meters from shore. What a wonderful landscape! Everywhere you look is dark volcanic rock with patches of soil clinging bravely to it. And growing in the soil are clumps of grass and tiny flowers. There are rare bunches of trees trying to make a comeback after near total deforestation by the Vikings. I see new development in process and hope that they plan well and keep their environment healthy.

The Blue Lagoon is a spa with a series of man-made pools filled with milky blue geothermal seawater that is pumped from underground aquifers up to 2,000 meters below the earth’s surface. The water is enriched with salts, minerals, and blue-green algae. The facilities are all first rate, with sauna, cafe, showers, lockers, and gift shop. There are spa services available including massage and skin treatments. Luckily Atlas Productions got us in for free because it’s a bit expensive for an unemployed graduate student like yours truly. Some tall, troublemaking Norwegians who send hilarious text messages call this place a tourist trap. But trap or not, the Blue Lagoon rocks.

After some video and stills, I switched to my swimsuit and went for a float. It was a warm day and the sun beat down on my skin for the first time in weeks. It felt soooooo good. The pools range in depth from knee-high to shoulder-high, and the bottom is white silica mud that you put on your face and let dry. Then you wade on over to a very powerful waterfall and rinse it off. And you may as well hang out for a minute and get a waterfall back massage as well.

The temperature of the water ranges from pretty cool in one pool to scalding hot near the vents. I like it really, really hot so I swam pretty close to the vents most of the time, off in an area by myself. I found a position that allowed me to float on my back, totally relaxed to the point of nearly falling asleep. I stayed like this for a long time and then laid out on one of the wooden decks that meanders through the main pool, not knowing yet that the bright sun and hot water were literally sucking the life right out of my tired, dehydrated body. When I woke up, I went into the locker room and showered, then waited for my friends out front where we piled into the van for the drive back to Reykjavik harbor.

Tor Torgersen is our driver. He’s a Greenpeacer from Norway and he’s in Iceland taking care of certain logistics during the campaign. I first met him in Isafjördur when he brought my long lost bag onto the ship. We’ve had several interesting conversations, and I get the feeling he’s rather complicated. He’s the one who took the incredible video of the blue whale fluking in Húsavik. Tor turns up ABBA loud for everyone in the van to sing their own personalized wrong lyrics, and he points out examples of the clean-lined architecture he prefers. Tor is extremely reflective and quite intense. When he smiles, his shy blue eyes light up.

We arrived back at the ship around 7:00 and found out that today’s guided tour was the "trip of a lifetime". The captain’s lovely wife even said that they missed having me along. I was so happy for the group to have gone but felt extremely disappointed personally. Everything they described resonated with me as the very experiences I had imagined and hoped for during my visit to Iceland. If you saw pictures you would understand. Each person I spoke to said that I should go tomorrow if possible, but it’s getting late to make arrangements and I’m not feeling that great.

Somehow I didn’t get to bed until after midnight. I blame Gianluca...

-Marnee