Information

 The Onset of Whale Watching in Iceland

Professional whale watching was established in Iceland in 1995 and is now one of the highlights for people visiting the country. In accordance to the distribution of the whales, all whale watching operators are located either in the west or north of the country.

Summer is the Optimal Season 

The best time to go whale watching is from June - August, but trips are offered from April - October, depending on the location of the companies. Whale watching is awailable from Reykjavík year round. 

Proper Conduct and Whale Watching Guidelines

Since the amount of operators has been increasing, The Icelandic Whale Watching Association "Icewhale" saw the need to regulate the behaviour on sea and established a whale watching guideline, to minimize the impact on the animals. However, to comply to this guideline is still voluntary because it has no legal force. 

There has been an ongoing controversy on having the co-existence of whale watching and whaling. Discussing how to best utilize the natural resources, it is obvious that whale watching is the less harmful of the two. This debate is, however, purely economical, ignoring the fact that most whale species are still listed in the international red list of endangered species. A whale watching trip not performed professionally and with respect, will also harm the animals.