Arctic Expedition , Day 1 : Embarking the M/V Ortelius & Spotting The Blue Whale (The Largest Animal Ever in The History of Our Planet)

After the dog sled ride, I went to my room, packed my bags, and started walking towards the port where my expedition vessel M/V Ortelius was supposed to be. Because another ship was already at our spot, the vessel had docked at a different quay next to a coal mine. I had two options: take a taxi or walk for 40 minutes. I preferred to walk, but this meant going past the polar bear warning sign to reach the coal mine. I was not sure if this was allowed, and I did not want to get in trouble. I asked some officers who were standing nearby and they told me it was not illegal, just highly discouraged. This surprised me because locals had said walking without rifle protection could get you into serious trouble. Reactions were mixed. I finally decided to walk and made it to the vessel around 3:15 PM. I was one of the first to board and got into my room early.

I chose this expedition on the Ortelius because it focused on wildlife, especially polar bears, and exploring deep pack ice where only a few ships can go. Another reason was the small group size, with just 80 to 100 passengers, which made the experience feel more personal compared to larger expeditions.

I did not notice at first, but pieces of charcoal from the quay stuck to my boots and scattered all over the clean room. It was embarrassing, but I had to call the crew and let them know. They brought a vacuum cleaner and took care of it before my roommates arrived. My roommates were a German, a British, and an older Spanish person. A good mix indeed. We immediately broke ice and got along well straight away.

M/V Ortelius (The Expedition Vessel)

Our shared cabin inside the ship

After settling in, I paid a visit to the bridge where the Chief Officer welcomed me inside. He said I was allowed to come to the bridge at any time except during emergencies ofcourse. I work in offshore vessel chartering for oil and gas projects, but my job is mostly in the office. It is not often that I get to see the inside of a ship. It was interesting to look at all the sophisticated instruments and controls.

The Bridge deck

Advanced radar systems and GPS

Me pressing some random buttons

Shortly after we left port, the spotters on deck already began looking for wildlife with their high-tech binoculars. This is why I liked to spend most of my time on deck. This is where the all the action is and you are amongst the first to know about any potential wildlife sighting. About three hours in, one spotter shouted, “Captain, huge blows straight ahead.” At first, I did not understand. He meant the spray from a whale surfacing to breathe. The Captain looked at the tall spray, over 10 meters high, and said it was probably a blue whale. Some people thought it might be a humpback or a fin whale instead. The Captain set full throttle ahead and we sailed as fast as we could. We continued to see the massive blows one after the other.

Eventually, it became clear it was a big blue whale. Some incredible facts about blue whales:

-Blue whales are the largest animals to have ever lived on Earth, even bigger than the largest dinosaurs

-Their weight is about the same as 30+ elephants

-The largest recorded blue whale weighed nearly 200 tons

-A blue whale can be almost as long as a Boeing 737 airliner

As we got closer, most of us rushed to the bow to get the best view. There was complete silence, and the air was filled with intense anticipation to catch a glimpse of the biggest beast that nature has ever created. There are a few moments from this trip that I will never forget for the rest of my life. This was one of them. I heard a loud noise behind me to the right, followed by a huge spray. Then, I saw the greyish-black back of the blue whale coming out of the water for just a few seconds. I was told that this represents only about 5% of the whale’s body, as most of it remains underwater when it surfaces. Even this small part of its body looked enormous, and I could only imagine how big the whole animal was. It was mind-boggling.

The Blue Whale we saw surfacing and traces of blow in the air

Blue Whale diving back into the ocean

We continued to follow the whale for a while, witnessing a few more breaches before leaving the creature in peace to feed on plankton. What a start to the expedition!

Later, We also spotted a minke whale on the port side, but only for a few seconds, so it couldn’t be captured on camera. Minke whales are the smallest of the baleen whales. They are often called “stinky minkies” because their breath has a very strong, unpleasant smell, most likely because of their diet of fish and krill.