Page 51 of Adrift in Iceland
Once they were heading out of the harbour, Astrid turned on her headset and began the safety briefing, primarily letting people know what to do if anyone fell overboard. Her voice was being broadcast throughout the boat, and as she moved on to explaining what they hoped to see today and the signs to look out for, more of the guests appeared from below to stand on deck.
‘It is likely to rain during the tour, which won’t matter to the whales, but if you don’t already have a weatherproof suit on, you might want to grab one now. We’re heading out to about fifteen kilometres from the harbour, which is a common place to find whales feeding. It’ll take us around twenty minutes to get out there, then our captain, Leifur, will slow the engines. We’ll be on the lookout for groups of seabirds, a sure sign that there are fish to be had and therefore whales feeding, and blows, which are the classic vapour release from the whale’s blowhole. We can see those from a kilometre ortwo away.’
Astrid felt the boat turn and wondered whether Leifur had received some information from another tour boat. Five minutes later, scanning the horizon, she saw the first blow.
‘And we have a blow at twelve o’clock. It’s probably a humpback.’
Just as everyone started peering at the horizon, two minke whales swam along the starboard side of the boat. Astrid noticed before anyone else and called it out, but the minkes were gone before anyone could get a photo, although there were lots of excited comments from the guests who spotted them.
‘Look! They look like dolphins!’
‘They’re so close!’
It was wonderful to know that they were having a great time, and with each sighting, there was renewed excitement. She also took it as a good sign that most of the guests stayed on deck. It was a relief because even after the trial run had gone so well, she’d had a niggling worry at the back of her mind that of course everyone enjoyed that tour. They were family and friends and out on a free trip. The guests today, their reaction was the validation Astrid realised she’d been waiting for.
Eva came up around halfway through. ‘Is it okay for me to be up here?’
Astrid switched her mic off for a moment. ‘Of course. I don’t think the guests are going to want anything from the galley while this is going on,’ said Astrid.
‘I’ve never been on a boat tour. Isn’t that crazy?’
‘Not that crazy. I never went on one before Leifur and I went to do a recce for this.’
‘Oh, look!’ Eva said, pointing.
Astrid smiled, pleased that Eva was getting to experience her passion firsthand. She switched her mic back on.
‘And we have two individuals, two humpbacks at nine o’clock. They’re diving, I think they will come under the boat. Look at two o’clock for bubble rings and dark shadows.’
Everyone went over to the starboard side and waited. This was what made them different from the other companies; thirty people could all gather in about the same place and see whatever was going on. As it was, they’d mostly lined the bow, and there was no one who wouldn’t see the humpbacks if they came up as Astrid predicted.
The stars aligned, and a minute or so later they could see the shadow of the whales under the water, with the telltale rings of bubbles expanding and reaching the surface at the same time as their creators. It was a wonderful sight, even when you’d seen it before, and Astrid knew she’d never tire of seeing it.
‘Incredible,’ breathed Eva next to her, eyes wide in genuine wonderment. ‘I’ve never seen the bubble rings for real before. They’re beautiful.’
Astrid felt quite overwhelmed for a moment as she took in everyone’s reactions. This was more than being a tour guide. Right now, it didn’t feel second best to anything else she could be doing, and that felt amazing and frightening at the same time. There had been times on research boats when they’d made a breakthrough or seen something incredible, but that was once in a blue moon in amongst all the hard work, data crunching and false leads. Today was already incredible, and it was the first tour.
‘I’d better go downstairs,’ said Eva. ’This is going to be the best summer ever!’
And Astrid was inclined to agree with her.
22
AS THEY WAVED the last of the guests off the boat at the end of the third tour of the day, Astrid wondered whether she’d bitten off more than she could chew. She’d never had a job that was rigidly timetabled, or done anything that had a customer-facing role before. The time between each tour had seemed as if it would give them all a chance for a break, but by the time they had tidied up, restocked the galley, made sure the weatherproof suits were hanging ready for the next tour, or in the drying room if they were wet, the next guests arrived and they started all over again.
‘That was amazing,’ Eva said, full of the enthusiasm Astrid and Leifur had had after the practice run.
‘They all seemed pleased when they left,’ Leifur said wearily, although being in the wheelhouse for most of the time meant he didn’t have a feel for how it had gone.
‘We’ll know when they start leaving reviews,’ said Astrid.
‘They all saw whales,’ Eva said.
‘That’s true, although it was a shame that the last group didn’t see the minkes.’
‘Minkes are fly-by-nights,’ said Leifur. ‘They’re here one minute and gone the next. The humpbacks are what people really want to see. Slapping their tails and blowing bubblerings, they know how to impress people.’
He unzipped his weatherproof suit and pulled his arms out, knotting the sleeves around his waist. Astrid was surprised by how sexy it was. With his hair tousled and a smile in his eyes now that he was relaxing, she was suddenly desperate to pull the rest of his clothes off and run her hands over him.
