Killer whale watching in Norway

The “National Geographic Traveller” has rated the Lofoten islands as the third most appealing islands in the world. According to them, tourism in Lofoten is conducted in a professional way that helps the local population, and that the local authorities have been careful in making sure that tourism coexists with the traditional culture.

Traditional the livelihood on Lofoten has been fishing but today tourism is becoming more and more important for the local economy. Besides giving back to local economy; by using a local whale watching company, staying in locally owned accommodation and visiting local restaurants, we hope that the travellers’ encounters with the killer whales will help to give a greater environmental awareness when it comes to the world’s oceans and eco systems.

Going out to sea to observe the killer whales is a magical experience. We will spend our days at sea onboard the catamaran “MS ALBA”. The boat is owned by Lofotferge AS, a local company with great environmental emphasis. On the boat they do not use disposable spoons, plates etc. and they have an environmentally friendly waste management system and use environmentally friendly detergent. Food served on the boat is locally produced and whenever possible of a fair trade label. The MS ALBA has a relatively low CO2 emission when compared to RIB and Hurtigbåtar.

Lofotferge AS bases their tours on the natures and the Orca’s premises and their captains have long experience from Orca safaris, for example the always try to keep a good distance to the Orcas according to guidelines from biologists and scientists. Although, when the boat stops it can be difficult to hold the distance of 75-100 meters, since the Orcas are very curious and they like to come nearer to the boat and take a closer look at the visitors! Onboard the boat there is a whale specialist to guide and inform you about the Orcas. Please note that we do not allow snorkelling with the Orcas since, according to the scientists, it stresses the animals.

During our tours we also work with the research centre “Ocean Sounds” which is located in Henningsvær. Ocean Sounds mainly studies the vocal repertoire of groups of killer whales. In cooperation with them we offer the travellers to join the researchers in a Zodiac to conduct research. The fee for being a research assistant goes straight back into research.

During the tour we will stay in cosy rorbuer, historic fishermen's cabins, at “Svinøya Rorbuer”. They have an environmentally friendly management and they try to use local suppliers when it comes to food supply, and employ local people and use waste management. Svinøya rorbuer is locally owned.

Before you go on our tour you will receive our Responsible Travellers code of conduct which will give you details on how you can play an important part in reducing your impact on the fragile environments and cultures around the world. But it is not only what we, and our clients, do on tour that counts. In our office we also try to minimize the negative impact on the environment. For example we do not print brochures due to the huge paper wastage and print runs; all information about us and our tours our clients can find on the Internet. The office use recycled and recyclable materials wherever possible and recycle everything possible: paper, plastic, metal, glass etc.

The company is a member of the Swedish Eco Tourism Association and of Ecpat, a non-profit organisation that works against sexual abuse of children and child prostitution.