An Icy Disko Party with Whale Tails in Greenland

Spouting and snorting and flipping its enormous tail, it was almost as though a humpback whale was giving us an escort to his glittering ice cave as it emerged from the waves alongside our boat.

Towering walls of ice surrounded us as we entered Disko Bay on a small boat tour from a town clinging to the Greenland coast that’s a whale-watching paradise and whose name Ilulisssat, literally means icebergs in Greenlandic. Titanic chunks of white ice streaked with brilliant blue float everywhere in the water, fed by mountainous glaciers which date back at least to the last ice age 10,000 years ago.

We’ve arrived on Seabourn Cruises’ expedition ship Seabourn Venture carrying just 200 guests on the first leg of an epic voyage exploring the historic Northwest Passage across Canada’s Arctic to Alaska. And Ilulissat with a population of just 5,000 is by far the largest settlement we’re going to be visiting on the three-week adventure.

Building clinging to a rock in downtown Ilulissat–Photo by Wallace Immen

The port on Greenland’s west coast is also Europe’s halibut fishing capital and the inflatable Zodiac shuttling us from ship to shore has to squeeze its way into a narrow harbor that’s gridlocked with fishing trawlers and motor boats to land at the commercial dock.

It’s uphill all the way in the town of brightly painted homes clinging to rocky cliffs. Even though the boat slip for sighting tours is within sight, it’s safer to wait for a van to drive us along a narrow cliff side road that must be fun to drive on an icy day. A sign warns no swimming, but I wouldn’t be tempted to even try wading into this frigid water that has chunks of ice floating everywhere.

The colors of Disko Bay–Photo by Wallace Immen

We’re off to circuit Disko Bay, a fairy-tale realm of towering glaciers that sparkle in the late summer sun. Each small tour boat carries fewer than 10 sightseers so everyone has a chance to get photos while minimizing disruption to the whales or the ecology. And what a stunning experience the Disko party for the next two hours becomes.

Ice walls, ice cliffs and ice rivers surround us on all sides, towering  over our tiny boat as we enter the fjord. Every time it seems we’ve reached the end, another turn opens a new even more stunning frozen vista of ice streaked with intense blue shimmering in the bright late summer sun.

The boat’s driver proclaims “this was born many years before Jesus.” Most certainly it was, and scientists have measured frozen cores on the massive Greenland glaciers that that spill into the bay here that suggest some of the ice here was laid down when dinosaurs still reigned.

The sound of a giant gasp and a spout of water signaled our first whale spotting, a humpback emerging from the waves and floating momentarily before arching its back and diving back into the waves. We can tell it’s a humpback by the forked tail that flips high into the air revealing white patches on its underside.

A humpback whale waves good-bye in Disko Bay–Photo by Wallace Immen

And the whales kept coming. Birds circling overhead signaled where whales are feeding and our driver would get into position to watch where one was expected to spout.

Most dramatic of all was a humpy that seemed to be curious about who we were and surfaced right alongside our boat. With a sonorous snort it rose and floated momentarily for a look before arching its back and flipping its tail in the air for another plunge down to the fish-rich fjord.

Heading through Disko Bay–Photo by Wallace Immen

After a couple of hours of continual fascination in the Disko, it was time to take a Zodiac back to Seabourn Venture, where the expedition team has a surprise for us. They’ve brought back a sparkling diamond-clear chunk of ice from a glacier and the bartender in the Discovery Lounge has already set up glasses with shards of it in highball glasses.

The 10,000-year-old ice makes a 15-year-old Scotch seem like a newborn by comparison and it resists melting even after the drink is finished.

Ancient ice resists melting–Photo by Wallace Immen

Sitting on deck watching a translucent iceberg larger than our ship sail by, we toasted to adventure and awe-inspiring Arctic scenes few people have ever seen. May this gorgeous icy realm remain as pristine for 10,000 years to come.

Seabourn Venture will sail intensive Iceland, Greenland and Canadian Arctic cruises ranging from 15 to 28 days in August and September 2024 that include Iluluissat. 

Wallace Immen, The Cruisington Times

About Wallace Immen 784 Articles
Wallace Immen is Executive Editor of The Cruisington Times, the Best in Cruising, Travel, Food and Fun. He's sailed on all of the world's seas to ports in over 100 countries and travelled on every continent.