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.
Chloe had already shown us a Water Bear which was the smallest species we were to see on the cruise. During the Covid years, the longest Dinosaur to be identified was described. Supersaurus is longer than a Blue Whale at up to forty metres, compared to the thirty-three metres length of the largest Blue Whale ever killed in the Southern Oceans. However, their weight is estimated as a mere thirty-five to forty-four metric tons, compared to the one hundred and eighty metric tons for a Blue Whale. Therefore, considering the weight as well as the length, it's reasonable to say we were watching the largest animal that has ever been known to have populated the Earth.
It wasn't even 05:00 and we still had an eventful three hour wait for breakfast.