Whale Wise Blog
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Land-based whale-watching in Hólmavík: An Ordinary Yet Extraordinary Experience
Written by Tereza Typoltová In today’s post, I’d like to share a special whale-watching experience with you that took place on July 31, 2025. To tell this story, I’ll start a little further back in time. It was April 2023, and I had just moved to a small town called Hólmavík, located in the Westfjords…
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Spring whales of Finnafjörður: 2026 fieldwork results!
Written by Tom Grove In the previous blog post, I outlined our spring plans to study the whales of Finnafjörður and the wider bay of Bakkaflói. In this post, I’m thrilled to share that we had an incredible and productive two weeks in the field. We were fortunate with both weather and whales, and were…
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Spring whales of Finnafjörður: 2026 fieldwork plans
Written by Tom Grove For the past years, we have studied the whales of Bakkaflói and particularly the small fjord of Finnafjörður, in the far northeast of Iceland. This April we’re back in the east, conducting drone and photo-ID surveys to build upon our existing research. Finnafjörður is one of the most remote parts of…
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Watching whales, watching humans – a story from data analysis
Read as Malena beautifully describes her ‘invisible’ whale research and powerfully talks of her balanced opinions on whale watching – intentionality being key.
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A city of whales in the wildest winter
Written by Tom Grove I want to tell you about one of the most magical experiences of my life – finding whales upon whales in a frozen Westfjords winter. As I write from a cosy house in South Wales (where I’m spending Christmas), the words above almost feel imaginary. Did I actually spend the first…
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Sixty humpbacks in one fjord: an incredible day of research in the Westfjords
Tom shares insights into a full dedicated whale survey of the largest fjord system in the Icelandic Westfjords.
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On the magic of wild whales and wilder oceans
Follow along as Jess narrates her passion for being at sea, with the whales in their wild home.
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From Conservation to Cinema: Whale Wise and the movie “Time to Act”
Time to Act – between melting glaciers and the courage to act. Read how the entire community is important in taking climate action.
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Sjórinn Talar – the sea speaks: a visual storytelling exhibition in Reykjavík
Come and visit Rebecca’s powerful and important exhibition in Reykjavík – ends 30th September 2025!
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What does it really mean to be a researcher at sea?
Read as Ben describes his Icelandic voyage with Katie: a journey of connection, hard-work and looking for cetaceans through thick fog!
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Reflections from the European Cetacean Society Conference in the Azores
This past week, our team had the privilege of attending the European Ecological Conference (ECS 2025) held in the stunning Azores.
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The shared waters of Ísafjarðardjúp
Read as Ben passionately re-tells his recent research story and understand why this research is crucial for whales today.