Swim with orcas in Norway, Northern Lights

Planet

Norway has some of the most beautiful wildlife including humpbacks, white tailed eagle, arctic fox, puffins, bearded seal, deer, fin whales, minke whales and of course our main attraction, orcas. We encourage our guests to respect the wildlife and we like to also lead by example. Some of these examples include..
-We follow responsible guidelines for whale watching that have been developed with the encouragement of local communities, local commercial operators, and the media
-We not do chase or harass the orcas and we minimize disturbance
-We position the boat in the right place after reading the orcas behaviour, we then turn off the engine and it's up to the whales to then approach us
-Maximum experience with minimum impact
-Encourage guests to use established paths and respect all wildlife
-Ensure we don't disturb the balance of marine environment by disposing of rubbish correctly
-We donate a portion of each tour to a non for profit research organisation - Norwegian Orca Survey https://norwegiansurvey.no/ and support research, monitoring and conservation of Norwegian orcas

We like to reduce waste to keep the beautiful Norwegian environment free of pollution in their waterways and land. Here are some examples...
-Minimize pollution by keeping the smallest footprint possible
-Take all rubbish and use existing toilets
-We urge our guests to keep the ocean free of plastic and waste
-Avoid using plastic bottles and we provide every guests with a water flask
-We don't use plastic straws or cutlery and supply each guest with a travel sustainable cutlery pack
-Throughout the tour, guests will learn and be educated on respect and conservation of both the marine life and the environment within the Fjords
-We work electronically and encourage the guests not to print. Instead we ask them to download itineraries and trip bulletins to their devices.

We debrief our guests on the importance of water saving while on tour. When in hotels we encourage them to reuse towels where possible and only do clothes washing whenever you really need to. Guests are also encouraged to conserve energy by turning off lights when not in the rooms (both on the boat and accommodation). We always recommend that our guests fly carbon neutral and are aware of trying to keep transport to a minimum when designing our tours. We do this by doing all our activities in Tromso and also transferring people in larger groups wherever possible. We like to ensure the that suppliers we use are environmentally aware and do their part to protect the environment. We send them our mission statement to show them our values and encourage them to make a positive difference.

People

We have done a lot of research on the beautiful town of Tromso, and have visited many local places, so we like to make sure our guests really get to know the place and support local as much as they can and spread tourism to those in need. Some examples of how we do this are...
-Most meals are sourced organically and locally whenever possible
-On the boat portion of the tour, fish is bought from local fisherman and our supplier buys fresh produce from local markets prior to leaving port
- We support the local small coastal fishing industry in Tromso and also collaborate with the fishing boats in order to find the orcas within the Fjords.
- Our trip bulletin includes examples of places guests can visit pre and post tour to support local

One of the issues happening in Norway is the big fishing trawlers coming in and taking the stock and leaving little for the local fishermen and less herring for the orcas. We have signed petitions to try and stop this and also support the small businesses in any way we can. We aim to support charities for each tour that we do. For Norway, we are supporting a charity called Norwegian Orca Survey https://norwegiansurvey.no/ They support research, monitoring and conservation of Norwegian orcas.

As we contract other businesses for each portion of our tour, we do not personally hire staff except for our own guides and admin. We do however use companies that treat their staff very fairly and we voice our opinion if we feel that anyone has been treated unfairly.

We absolutely support the local arts and culture by….
-We encourage guests to visit local museums and galleries
-We encourage guests to buy local produce and locally handmade souvenirs such as the local arts and crafts
-To lead by example, we ourselves also purchase local arts and crafts

It is so important for us to respect all locals and all cultures whilst traveling. We also encourage our guests to do the same. It’s only polite to respect the people and countries you visit. For this tour we include a Sami Reindeer cultural tour which gives the guests insight into Norwegian history.