Travel

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines

Guests aboard Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ fleet made more than 4,400 wildlife sightings with the help of marine wildlife charity ORCA in 2022.

It came as part of ORCA’s Cruise Conservationist programme, hosted aboard the Fred. Olsen fleet.

The most frequent wildlife spotted was the common dolphin, sighted 296 times - with the total number of individual dolphins spotted being 1,996. Other sightings included humpback whales, orca, a blue whale and even the deepest diving animal known, the elusive Cuvier’s beaked whale, which can dive to depths of nearly 3,000m.

The ORCA Cruise Conservationist programme is a unique whale and dolphin monitoring project, which uses the data collected during these cruises to identify and monitor whale and dolphin populations around the world.

James Moss, Journey Experience Co-ordinator at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said:

“Spotting native wildlife is something that makes a holiday truly special, and we have a really unique opportunity as a cruise line to be able to offer guests the chance to have this experience directly from the deck as they sail between destinations.

“It has been a real privilege to work with ORCA this year, with their team of ocean conservationists helping our guests not only to spot marine mammals, but to learn more about the wildlife they spot and to play a part in capturing important data too.

“We’re looking forward to another successful year working together in 2023.”

Steve Jones, Director of Fundraising & Operations at ORCA, said:

"These sightings show the absolutely phenomenal range of habitats that our Ocean Conservationists can study aboard Fred. Olsen itineraries, monitoring areas that it would be otherwise impossible to reach.

“The data we've collected in 2022 will help give us important insights into the lives of these whales, dolphins and porpoises, and we can understand better than ever the protections they need to safeguard them for future generations.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines will be welcoming ORCA’s Cruise Conservationists on board a further 16 sailings in 2023. Highlights of these include:

Bolette’s 10-night  ‘Uncrowded Iceland’ cruise, departing from Newcastle on March 27. Prices start from £1,299 per person.
Itinerary: Newcastle – Reykjavík, Iceland (overnight stay) – Cruising Eyjafjörður, Iceland – Akureyri, Iceland (overnight stay) – Seyðisfjörður, Iceland – Tórshavn, Faroe Islands – Newcastle
 
Bolette’s seven-night ‘Scenic Isles and Lochs of Scotland’ cruise, departing from Newcastle on May 13. Prices start from £1,099 per person.
Itinerary: Newcastle – Cruising by Duncansby Sea Stacks – Cruising by Old Man of Hoy, Orkney Island – Cruising by Marwick Head, Orkney Islands – Stornoway, (anchor port) – Loch Broom – Portree Isle of Skye, (anchor port) -  Cruising Loch Torridon – Kirkwall, Orkney Islands – Lerwick, Shetland Islands (anchor port) – Newcastle

Balmoral’s 15-night ‘Rugged and Remote Spitsbergen with the Midnight Sun’ cruise, departing from Rosyth on July 19. Prices start from £2,199 per person. 

Itinerary: Rosyth, Edinburgh – Åndalsnes, Norway – Cruise Nærøysundet, Norway – Cruising Torghatten, Norway – Cruising Seven Sister Mountain Range, Norway – Cruising Trollfjord, Norway – Cruise Tjeldsundet Strait, Norway – Cruising by Djevelen Tanngard, Norway – Tromsø, Norway – Honningsvåg, Norway – Cruise North Cape, Norway – Cruise by Bear Island, Norway – Pyramiden, Norway – Cruise by Nordenskiöldbreen, Norway – Cruising Tempelfjorden, Norway – Longyearbyen, Norway – Sortland, Vesterålen, Norway – Cruising by Black Glacier, Norway – Cruising Nordfjorden, Meloy, Norway – Kristiansund, Norway – Rosyth, Edinburgh, Scotland

Bolette’s 15-night ‘Volcanic Islands of the Canaries, Azores and Madeira’ cruise, departing from Southampton on October 14. Prices start from £1,999 per person.
Itinerary: Southampton – Praia Da Vitoria, Portugal – Ponta Delgada, Portugal – Santa Cruz De La Palma, Spain – Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Spain – San Sebastian, Spain – Funchal, Madeira, Portugal – Southampton.

For further information on Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ ORCA cruises, visit https://www.fredolsencruises.com/our-ships/activities-and-entertainment/orca. Book online, call Reservations on 0800 0355 242 or contact your ABTA travel agent.

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