I figured our final approach to Jan Mayen Island could be good for Cetaceans, so I set my alarm for a 04:00 start. I woke about 03:30 and decided to get up at that point, rather than wait for my alarm to re-wake me at 04:00 and disturb the rest of my cabin mates. I had a quick cup of tea and some biscuits for my first breakfast, before headed up to the bridge wing. I was surprised to find that Maurice had beaten me to the deck. Fortunately, I hadn't missed any Cetaceans. It wasn't long before we spotted our first sighting of two very distant Humpback Whales at 03:45. This was followed by our first two Beluga Whales, which came past a few minutes later. Unfortunately, I only saw the blow as I was looking for a dark body in the water. Not long after, Maurice found our first Blue Whale of the cruise at 04:20. Fortunately, a few of the other keen Dutch Birders had also joined us by that time to enjoy the sighting. Thirty minutes later, we saw two Harbour Porpoises.
Just over an hour after leaving the Blue Whale we spotted three Humpback Whales in the distance. It was still only after 05:40. The Expedition Staff decided to slow the ship as we got close to them and we stayed with this pod for the next twenty-five minutes or so, as they put on an entertaining display.
Finally, the Plancius moved relative to the Humpback Whales and they were out of the glare.
In case, we hadn't had a good enough selection of Cetaceans for our pre-breakfast watch, a Minke Whale briefly put in an appearance. Four species of Whales and a Harbour Porpoise is an impressive start to any day at sea.
Finally, it was breakfast time. Having been up since 03:45, I was looking forward to breakfast.
We didn't know if we were going to be able to get ashore. Landings at Jan Mayen Island are tricky as there is only one beach were landings are allowed and the waves frequently stop landings on the day.