Long evenings make for plenty of time to socialise with fellow tourists and the friendly hotel and Orca Centre staff, many of whom come back each winter to work the orca season. Per Westengen, whose brother-in-law owns the centre, is a self-confessed fishing nut with an easygoing manner and a talent for storytelling.

He says there is a very friendly relationship between Tysfjord fishermen and the orcas. “There was this local who cast a net across a small bay and saw that he had trapped a big male orca in with the fish. He doesn’t want to lose the fish so he opens one corner of the net just to let the whale out, but the orca is quite happy there and doesn’t want to leave. In the end the rest of the pod came in through the opening and ended up eating all the man’s fish!”

Per’s enthusiasm for all things fishing is seriously contagious. So much so that the next day I find myself back at sea fumbling with various silicone bait, razor sharp hooks and a rapidly tangling 160- foot fishing line. “It is impossible for you to come back with nothing. You will catch something for sure” says my guide with absolute confidence as he takes us to a part of the fjord where the only sign of human activity is occasional chocolate-box house perched on a precipitous cliff.

After a while the sonar screen indicated a good depth, and Per gave the go-ahead to drop our lines. This is one of the shallower parts of the fjord, but my line just kept unwinding until I wondered whether it would ever reach the bottom.

It takes approximately five seconds for the first fish to bite, a 3-foot long Ling Cod, with extremely tough skin like an eel’s. The tuna-like coalfish I catch a few minutes later is about half its size but much prettier, with a lovely bluish sheen. After moving around a few more times we also start to catch a Mackerel-type fish called Sei by the dozen, each measuring at least 12 inches.

The abundance of fish meant there was plenty to attract the sea eagles, and we fed them about a third of our catch. Per said that I’d be eating so much fish I would end up growing gills.

Life in Norway has always been sustained by its waters, and the Norwegian bond with the sea seems to rub off on tourists too. After my visit to the Viking country, I haven’t quite grown gills, but I do look at the sea in a whole new light.

Written by  Alice Bonasio.

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