SCANDINAVIA - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 98

Grímsey, home to a variety of seabirds, including
puffins and auks.
Whale-watching is big business in Iceland.
Since the early 1990s the annual numbers of
whale-watchers in Iceland have grown from a few
hundred to around ninety thousand, contributing
almost as much to Iceland's economy as whaling
did in its peak between 1950 and 1980. Whatever
your view on whaling, one of the best ways you
can support the conservation of whales is to join
a responsible tour like those offered by North
Sailing- it will help show that a whale is worth
more alive than dead.

130 whAlE-wATchinG off ThE
coAST of icElAnd

Iceland's waters are blessed with large numbers
of almost every kind of whale: blue, fin,
humpback, sperm, sei, minke, killer and pilot
whales, to name just a few. Not to mention the
abundance of dolphins and other marine life.
The largest whale-watching operator in Iceland
is North Sailing, which organizes three-hour
trips on board a renovated oak fishing boat from
Húsavík as well as a sailing trip on board a
two-mast schooner, which visits a puffin island
and all the traditional whale-watching sites.
There's also a three-day sailing excursion, which
includes a visit to a herring and whale museum
plus a few hours on the small Arctic island of

Need to know For itineraries, prices and
reservations for North Sailing's whale-watching
trips see W www.northsailing.is; T +354 (0)
464 7272.

Up close to a breaching
humpback whale