After sailing around in Spitsbergen waters for many years I start to know where to find certain things. This trip we had a few boys on board who were mainly interested in whales. So when we had to cross Storfjord, a large fjord in the south east of Spitsbergen and well known for the possibility to see large whales, I told them not to go to bed but to stay up to look out for them.

This turned out to be a very good idea. Around 10pm several blows were seen in the distance. And then some more… Nice of course, but really too far to see them properly and also for us to make a detour. Shortly after we found some more, this time more or less on our route. We quickly slowed down to have a closer look. At this time of year in the evening the sun almost sets, giving great warm evening light on the whales. We had several Fin Whales surrounded by some White-beaked Dolphins around the ship. Even though I was about to go to bed, I stayed up for another hour to enjoy this spectacle.