When I started guiding more than 10 years ago we hardly saw whales. Well, yes, Minke Whales and Beluga’s, but no large ones. I still remember the excitement I felt when I saw my first Fin Whales, in the far distance. Really big whales! During these 10 years, whales definitely have become more numerous in the waters around Spitsbergen. We now see almost all cruises Fin Whales and sometimes even other large whales (more on that in a later blog post). This Fin Whale we saw in the pack ice at 81º North, really far north for these whales. In this picture I really wanted the ice in the background, to show the Arctic surroundings of the whale.