YouTube video (Nate Buchanan) documenting a typical day aboard an Arctic expedition ship in northern Norway during winter, focused on searching for and swimming with orcas. Describes daily rhythm: limited daylight (~4 hours), zodiac trips to find orcas, entering the water for encounters, occasional sightings of humpback whales, sauna and sleep recovery, and repetitive daily routine.
This is what a typical day looks like on board an Arctic Expedition ship searching for orcas in northern Norway. The sun never actually rises here during the winter, but it finally starts to get light around 9am so we head upstairs and join the rest of the group to search for orcas. Some days we spot them almost immediately. Other days we look for hours. One day we didn't see them at all, but we were greeted by these incredibly playful humpbacks. It's only light for about four hours a day at this time of year, so we only have a short window to find them. If we're lucky enough to spot them, we run back to our room and change into our drive seats. At this point, I'm usually pouring sweat and can't wait to get in the water. Then we jump in the zodiacs and hope the orcas are still around. If everything goes to plan, we slide into the water for a few magical moments with the apex predators of the sea. One day we spent four hours hopping in and out of the water and I've never been so cold in my life. It gets dark again by 2pm, which feels so weird. I usually head straight to the sauna to warm up. And then it's time for dinner, which is quickly followed by immediately passing out in bed so we can wake up and do it all over again.
