Nature and Travel | Iceland Monitor | Fri 3 Apr 2015 | 13.29 GMT | Modified 28 Apr 2016 16.23

Blue whale greets whale watching boat

The blue whale waved its tail when passing by a whale watching boat yesterday morning. The boat sailed from Húsavík, one of the most popular whale watching spots in Iceland. Photo/Már Eyfjörð Höskuldsson

A blue whale, the largest mammal in the world, was spotted in Skjálfandaflói bay in north Iceland yesterday by the people onboard whale watching boat Náttfari. The captain of Náttfari, Már Eyfjörð Höskuldsson, believes the animal is feeding in the area.

Skjálfandi bay is one of the few places in Iceland where these larges mammals stop to feed over the summer months.

"Although the sight of a blue whale is not common, they've been spotted every spring in recent years," says a press release by Norðursigling whale watching company who started their whale watching trips of the season two weeks ago.

A close encounter with a blue whale is bound to be impressive, as the animal measures 30 metres in length and weighs 190 tonnes.