Norway - Up close with the orcas and the northern lights11/2024

Foreword

Shortly before the first corona lockdown in 2020, I had already been to cold, beautiful Norway. Back then, it was a short backpacker trip. But this time it will be different.

When Heike and I were at '"the Boot", a diving and travel trade fair in Düsseldorf in January, we came into contact with Frank Wirth (who made various animal documentaries with Frank Elsner, among others). Heike had been on and under the water with him and his team a year earlier in the Azores and was thrilled. He told us about the orcas in Norway and that you could snorkel with them. I had already seen it several times in various reports, but to be right in the middle of it when the orcas invite you to lunch was just a dream. We both didn't hesitate and booked two places...

Journey

For whatever reason, there was no suitable S-Bahn train to the airport this morning. Fortunately, a good friend took me there at five o'clock. At the airport, I checked in my suitcase and walked to the security checkpoint. It was really empty, so I had no problems and everything went smoothly.

The first flight took just over half an hour to land in Frankfurt am Main. I had to change planes there. Again, everything went smoothly and we took off on time.

At first I slept a little, but later I looked out of the window and saw a few snow-covered mountains.

After about three and a half hours, the plane touched down at Tromso airport. When I was here in February 2020, everything was white. Today, however, there was hardly any snow to be seen. Climate change is clearly noticeable here too.

Karina, Bettina and Rainer asked me at the baggage carousel whether I was also flying on to Orca Camp. We got talking and it turned out that they knew Frank, had been on many tours with him and were repeat offenders here in Norway.

We took our suitcases, checked them in again and spent the six-hour wait in a restaurant at the airport. We chatted about photography and various trips. I was very impressed with where the three of them had been and the quality of their pictures! Really strong.

An hour before boarding, Heike finally joined us.

The domestic flight from Tromso to Sorkjosen only took 25 minutes. The aircraft is so small that there was a free choice of seats. We were picked up by Robert, Frank's manager, and split into two cars with the other guests. Karina, Bettina and Rainer drove in one car to an accommodation on the mainland, the other six of us to a really small harbour. There we said goodbye to Robert and a small boat took us to the island of 'Uloya' after a quarter of an hour's journey. During the crossing, I received a message from Frank that we would not be staying in house 3 with a sauna after all, but in one without a sauna, although he had repeatedly promised me this in writing and we had already booked in January.

Of course, my mood was completely down, because I had been really looking forward to the sauna! Being able to warm up after a cold day is part of it for me! Henry was waiting for us on the island. I also told him that I didn't think it was okay and asked him to sort it out. The next day, if you like! But he also said 'sorry'.

In House 2 https://wildlifeobservationsworldwide.com/?lang=de, Heike and I also had the misfortune of getting the worst, smallest room! The suitcases don't fit in and the door doesn't open properly.So everything turned out differently than planned.My mood and appetite were gone, so I just organised my things for tomorrow and then went to bed rather disappointed.

I can't wait to see how things turn out over the next few days.

The night was short. I didn't get much sleep.

Heike and I were the first ones awake, so we made breakfast for everyone. Before we walked to the boat, we forced ourselves into our drysuits, grabbed our cameras and off we went.

Henry was already waiting for us there. Danny from Belgium, who lives in the house with us, a Czech couple from another house and the two of us travelled with Michel. He comes from Portugal, but speaks fluent German as his parents are German. He told us that he studied marine biology and that this was his second winter in Norway.

We headed out onto the fjords at sunrise at around 7.45am for about three quarters of an hour. There were already several boats there, which suggested that there must be whales here. And so there were, and orcas appeared. It was a great feeling. 

Then we spotted more fountains and followed them. They were humpback whales. Shortly afterwards, fountains again at another spot. This time they were fin whales, which are very rarely seen here, so our focus was on them. But apart from the dorsal fin and briefly their fluke, we unfortunately didn't see much of them. This went on for quite a while, but then something happened that is very rare here: a family of 25 large humpback whales appeared. That meant we had to get into the cold water! We slowly slid into the water, but the whales were almost always faster than us and visibility was a disaster. So neither photos nor videos were successful. Nevertheless, we tried our luck a total of three times when the family surfaced. At some point we gave up and enjoyed the panorama, the whales and nature from the boat. 

On the way back, we travelled a little further through the fjord and saw more orcas. A great colour mood with the sky.

We drove back at around 13:30. We were hardly cold on the hour-long journey as we were wrapped up tightly.

We changed at our accommodation and had lunch in another house down by the harbour.

Jörg, who also lives in the house with us, went with me to Pavlov's sauna. He owns the whole facility here. He offered it to us for the week as we don't have one in the house. Of course, it's not as comfortable as a sauna next door, but it's a compromise we can live with.

After we had warmed up and showered, some of us went to our rooms, Jörg, Danny, Heike and I sat together in the living room, looked through and saved our photos and reviewed the day.

Let's see if the weather plays along as well tonight as it did all day and the northern lights come out.

Day 2 The perfect orca day

Just like yesterday, we started the day and travelled into the Norwegian fjords before sunrise. Our boat was one of the first and so we were able to keep an eye out for orcas, enjoy nature and the sunrise to the full.

Although the weather forecast had indicated cloudy and grey, the sun was able to fight through a little and we got the perfect sunrise, including orcas.

In between, we also saw individual fin and humpback whales.

At around 11am we decided to go into the water. On our first attempt, the orcas were quicker, but on our second and third attempts we were lucky and were able to see the orcas underwater and enjoy them briefly. I didn't take any photos, but videos.

Before the trip, I was often asked the question:isn't it dangerous to snorkel with the orcas?

Of course, I had informed myself about this in advance and I can answer the question with a no. Of course, they are wild predators and you have to be careful in any case, but there have only rarely been attacks on humans, except where they are kept in large aquariums.

I have also read that each type of orca specialises in the food available in its habitat. Over many generations, different feeding habits and hunting techniques have developed as a result. The orcas here in Norway only eat herring. Other orcas, on the other hand, eat salmon or sharks. They are very attached to their feeding habits. Some of them are not even designed for a change of diet. Even if their main food becomes increasingly scarce in their habitat, they do not start eating anything else. Rather, they starve to death, which unfortunately is already happening.

Bevor wir den Rückweg antraten, lies sich auch noch eine Gruppe von Buckelwalen blicken.

The journey back took an hour.

After lunch, Jörg and I went back to the sauna and then into the fjord, well, I only went in with my feet, Jörg all the way. Maybe I'll dare to go in completely in the next few days.

We spent the afternoon back in our house, or rather in the living room, looking at the photos and videos and I backed them up on my external hard drive.

We ended the evening with a meal together and a glass of red wine, which Jörg had brought with him.

When we were all ready for bed, we were informed that the northern lights were visible. We jumped up, grabbed our mobile phones and cameras and ran behind to the water. We could hardly see them with the naked eye, but we could see them with our mobile phones. But even with the camera, neither the Swiss girls nor I could see them. We still have a few evenings left and are hoping for more northern lights to make it happen after all.

Day 3 Stormy seas

As the weather forecast predicted strong winds, we didn't set off until 9.30am today.

Danny, Heike and I were lucky enough to be alone on the boat with Michel today. There were two other people from another house on board.

The journey was slow and adventurous as the wind was whipping and the water was choppy. We saw nothing for a long time, then briefly a male orca, but he disappeared very quickly. After a while, we spotted a small group of orcas. But taking photos was the biggest challenge today, because with a wobbly boat and moving animals, it's really difficult to get sharp photos. On top of that, the light was a little darker - but I still managed to take one or two photos.

When the orcas dived, we continued on and saw a humpback whale in the distance, as we got closer, it also dived. Before we headed back, we were again lucky enough to find a family of orcas swimming alongside us for a while. But it got windier and the rain started to fall, so we headed back early.

After lunch, Jörg and I went to the sauna again and then we all had a rest. In the late afternoon, we played a game of pinochle and kept an eye out for the Northern Lights.

Day 4 Uloya Island

It was a bit noisy tonight because you could hear the wind outside.

When we looked out of the window in the morning, we saw that it had snowed a bit. The night before, Henry also told us that we wouldn't be travelling out and would be spending the day on the island. The ferry to the mainland wasn't running either.

So we put on warm clothes and hiked towards the waterfall. At first we recognised the path, but later we trudged through the blueberry fields. We didn't make it to the waterfall as it was simply too stormy, slippery and dangerous.

After about 3.5 kilometres, we were back again and warmed up with a hot cup of tea. But the time just wouldn't go by, so Danny, Heike and I went out again and walked along the main road along the fjord.

In the afternoon, there was a presentation about the orcas. Among other things, we were told about the differences between male and female orcas, their biology, feeding behaviour and habitat.

Jörg and I then went back to our sauna sessions.

We spent the evening together with a glass of wine and are looking forward to two more days on the fjords, because according to the weather forecast the wind should fortunately calm down again, but it should snow, which is also nice.

We are excited!

Day 5 Up close to the orcas

Fortunately, the storm had abated and so we were able to set sail again at around 8.30 am. It was still relatively dark, the clouds were low and the icy cold was clearly noticeable. After about an hour's journey in Kvænangen Fjord, we spotted the first orcas.

Michel, our skipper, followed them and so we were able to marvel at and photograph the group of orcas. After a while, we spotted a second group of orcas. Both groups were relatively calm, so we decided to get ready for snorkelling. The first attempt was unsuccessful. On the second attempt, I stayed on the boat, but Danny and Heike jumped in and were lucky. I wanted to take photos from the boat for the time being, as I liked the atmosphere of the landscape.

Besides, it was still early days and I didn't want to freeze the whole time. After two more attempts, my ambition got the better of me and I slipped into the very cold water once more. And there they were: Directly in front of me were two orcas that I was able to follow underwater. It was a dream to see them swimming through the fjords and to be so close to them!

But I was getting cold again, so we decided to head in the direction of the humpback whales that had been spotted. We dressed warmly and Michel put the pedal to the metal.

We could see some fountains from a distance, but as we got closer, they dived away again. However, two fin whales did us the honour and presented themselves. We also spotted another group of orcas with babies trying to jump out of the water.

Around 2 p.m., when it was already getting dark again, we drove back and arrived at our accommodation an hour after everyone else.

We finished off the leftovers from lunch and then retired to our rooms. Heike and I looked at our photos and videos and packed our bags, because tomorrow we were both travelling back to Tromsø by bus after the last trip.

Day 6 Last day

This morning we travelled out onto the fjord one last time. We left the island of Uloya with our luggage in the dark and rain at around eight o'clock and travelled to 'Hamneidet' on the mainland. Here the organisation also has boats and a guest house with a drying room. We left our luggage there. Then back on the boat. Despite the wind-free weather forecast, the wind and rain whipped around our ears, making it almost impossible to look out for whales and orcas.

After a good hour on the open sea, we spotted a small group of orcas. But the sea here was not sheltered, so there was hardly any chance of getting into the water in this weather (Danny wanted to go snorkelling again), let alone taking sharp and good photos, and other boats even broke off early and headed back. Our boat and one other boat persisted. We continued on and after a long search Michel spotted another group of orcas. The water was a little calmer, but Danny still couldn't get into the water and I couldn't get any good photos either, so we just enjoyed the moment.

However, we drove back earlier than planned, as there was no point in staying any longer. We were all soaking wet and frozen through. On the mainland, we said goodbye to Michel and Danny, thanked them, changed and waited for Robert to take us to Sorkjosen. There we warmed up in a café https://www.pataket.no, drank a coffee, ate something sweet and waited for the bus.

He arrived on time and we each bought a ticket for 307 crowns. After just under an hour, we travelled about 40 minutes by ferry from 'Olderalen' to 'Lyngseidet'. From there we travelled on by bus.

We arrived in Tromso at around 5.30 pm, after a three-and-a-half hour journey by bus and ferry. We took our suitcases and walked five minutes to our hotel https://www.strawberry.no/hotell/norge/tromso/quality-hotel-saga/?utm_campaign=gmb-listing&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=google . The same one where I had already stayed in 2020. It is centrally located. Checking in was no problem and once we had settled into our room, we got dressed warmly and strolled through the city. This brought back some memories of March 2020. However, there was no snow, which gave this city its flair.

We went to an Indian restaurant https://www.restaurantindie.no, drank a gin and tonic and had dinner.' Tomorrow it's time to say goodbye to cold, beautiful Norway!

Departure

We had a hearty breakfast in peace and quiet. We then packed our suitcases, got dressed and went for a walk around Tromsø. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily and a strong wind didn't make it much better, so we returned to the hotel almost soaking wet. We warmed up a bit and decided to leave for the airport earlier.

We took bus 42 and paid 88 crowns for two people via the bus app. In cash it would have been 120 crowns. The shuttle bus would have cost us even more. We arrived at the airport after just a quarter of an hour. We checked in there, checked in our luggage and went through security. I had to unpack my entire photo rucksack, including lenses and accessories. That took a while. When we were both through, we looked for a café, bought two coffees with the remaining cash and waited until my boarding. When Heike went to enquire about her flight, she saw that it had been pushed back 4 hours. This was of course a problem, as she would not be able to catch her connecting flight in Oslo. She enquired and was automatically rebooked on a direct flight to Berlin.

We said goodbye and I boarded the plane. After two hours I landed in Oslo and had a layover of about two and a half hours. However, as the airport is very large and I was hungry, I looked for somewhere to have lunch. The waiting time passed quickly.

The plane took off on time and we landed in Munich 30 minutes earlier than planned. My suitcase arrived too, I just managed to catch the S-Bahn and arrived home at around 11pm. Exhausted but happy after a wonderful week, I fell into bed.

Conclusion:

I can recommend travelling with https://wildlifeobservationsworldwide.com to anyone. However, you should not be sure that you will be accommodated in a house with a sauna.

The food was freshly prepared every day, vegetarians were also catered for and it was delicious. The trips out on the fjords, whatever the weather, are indescribable and there is a 99% guarantee of seeing orcas at this time of year.

We would like to say THANK YOU for all the unique and beautiful moments we were able to experience on the

Norwegian fjords!

Recommended contact details:

Travel agency: WILDLIFE OBSERVATIONS WORLDWIDE https://wildlifeobservationsworldwide.com

Skipper: Michel Wiese https://www.instagram.com/michel_wiese_wildlife/

Accommodation Tromsø: Quality Hotel Saga