Some prospective whale watchers were met with a close encounter that, while momentarily scary, left no one harmed.
RÚV reports that Benedikt Sigurðsson and his daughter took his friends, author C.B. McKenzie and his wife, out to sea near Hnífsdalur in the Westfjords to check out some whales, and ended up getting more than they bargained for.
As can be seen in the video below, originally posted by Lífið við höfnina, the group encountered a spectacular site: numerous humpback whales gallivanting and cavorting in the water. Within moments, however, the whales got a bit too close for comfort.
“We had a hard time getting away,” he told reporters. “They were swimming around the boat for about an hour, and two were swimming close by. It was absolutely unbelievable. They went under the boat. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The event was made all the more hair-raising due to the fact that the whales were about 15 metres long, by Benedikt’s estimation, while the boat the four were on was only 8.7 metres long.
All’s well that ends well, though, as the whales left the party unscathed, and they were able to return to shore with an incredible story, caught on video.
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