Blue Wings AS · Arctic Norway
Setting the Standard for Whale Watching in the Arctic
Blue Wings focuses on knowledge, animal welfare, quality seamanship, and safety – building professional standards in the Norwegian whale watching industry.
Born on the ocean, built for the future.
Blue Wings AS is a Norwegian consulting and training company for nature-based tourism, with Whale Watching at its heart. It was founded by two experienced captains and guides who turn first hand-time on the water into structured training, advice, and knowledge for the tourism industry.
We close a clear gap: there is no standard for wildlife specific training built to the people who actually run these operations. Our flagship program, the Whale Watching Captain Standard, brings safety, welfare, sustainability, and quality into one practical approach.
Our mission
To deliver specialised training, consulting and knowledge that raise safety, sustainability, service, and quality across nature-based and wildlife tourism.
Our vision
To become a leading training and consulting partner for players in the wildlife tourism industry, setting the benchmark for safety, sustainability, professional excellence, and contributing to the long term preservation of natural ecosystems.
founder captains with first hand operational expertise
modules in the Whale Watching Captain Workshop
clear mission: to raise the standard of wildlife tourism
Founded by captains, built on real experience!
“Our credibility comes from the wheelhouse. Both founders have years of experience in tourism: we have built and managed tourism operations ourselves and have spent thousands of hours at sea among whales, dolphins and seabirds. We also have an excellent network of experts in research and the tourism business, giving us additional perspectives. This is why our initiative is unique and bridges theory and practice.”
Susanne Strøm 🇳🇴
Grew up in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Susanne has spent a lifetime connected to the Arctic. As captain, guide, and owner of Explore 70 Degrees, she has built extensive operational expertise in Arctic tourism, with wildlife encounters at the heart of every experience. A focus shaped by several years working across Svalbard’s tourism sector, combining hands-on business ownership with countless hours guiding guests to encounters in the pure nature.
Since 2018, Susanne has worked as a Whale Watching Captain in Arctic Norway, bringing that same operational rigor to every journey. A high education in tourism adds a solid theoretical foundation to years of practical, on-the-water experience.
A lifelong nature and wildlife enthusiast, Susanne also brings a growing passion for photography, capturing the Arctic’s landscapes and wildlife through the lens.
Luis Dias 🇵🇹
Natural from Lisbon, Portugal, Luís brings more than 26 years of experience as a whale watching captain across the Azores, Madeira, and Arctic Norway. As captain, guide, and owner or manager of nature-based companies, he carries first-hand international expertise into Norway’s wildlife tourism industry.
With an advanced education in Marine Biology and also in Tourism, he combines scientific grounding with decades of hands-on experience at sea. Luís has served as a professor at the University of Madeira and as a researcher at the Universities of the Azores and Algarve. As a travel and tourism consultant, he has spent his career connecting people to nature through science, education, and nature-based tourism.
A dedicated birdwatcher and nature and underwater photographer, Luís brings a rich, multidisciplinary perspective to every journey. He is co-author of Europe’s Sea Mammals Including the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde: A Field Guide to the Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises and Seals, as well as several other publications on these topics.
A long term partner, not just a provider.
Blue Wings AS combines first-hand operational experience with formal educational frameworks, resulting in training and consulting services that are both practical and effective. Every solution we design is built for immediate use, giving clients real and applicable tools rather than theoretical recommendations.
Certified training
Structured programmes for captains, guides, crew, and owners that turn best practice into everyday competence.
Operational consulting
Advice tailored to each tourism business: safety, sustainability, service, quality, grounded in real operations.
Short consulting periods
Focused SCP engagements for targeted project work, with fast and measurable improvements where they matter most.
Workshops and lectures
Sessions on best practice and innovation, from the Whale Watching Captain Workshop to topics shaped around your team’s needs.
Digital + blended learning
Online and on-site delivery for flexible access, built to fit around the seasonal nature of operations.
Guides and publications
Educational manuals, guidelines, books and industry publications that turn knowledge into shared standards.
Whale Watching Captain: The industry needs a definition and a standard.
Skilled captains work these fjords every winter. But skill without a shared framework means every encounter depends on individual judgement. A common standard turns the best individual practice into the industry baseline.
Animal welfare
Predictable approach distances, low speed, and correct boat positioning can reduce stress on feeding and resting whales.
Passenger safety
The Arctic leaves no margin for error. Safety procedures for boarding, sea state assessment, and emergency response protect every guest.
Professional competence
A recognised qualification creates a career path for captains and a clear hiring benchmark for operators.
Be able reading the situation and the animal behavior carefully.
Visitor experience
Calm, knowledgeable, and safe operations create the encounters guests travel across the world to experience.
Industry consistency
A common framework applied across all operators ensures quality and a standard every guest can rely on, regardless of which boat they board.
Sustainable growth
A credible standard protects both the resource and the reputation the whole industry depends on.
Togetherness is essential.
A standard only works if the people it serves helped construct it. Blue Wings develops every element in the open, together with the industry itself, researchers, and international expertise.
Workshops
Working sessions where captains and crews shape the framework from real operational experience.
Collaboration
Operators, guides and destination organisations aligning on shared practice.
Pilot projects
Draft procedures tested on real operations, in real conditions, before they become standard.
Feedback
Feedback plays a central role in each seasonal review, and it directly informs the adjustments needed.
Research
Marine scientists ground the standard in current knowledge of whale behaviours and disturbance.
This is where the work happens. Join us.
Whale Watching Programme October 2026
Tromsø and Skjervøy
On both locations the Whale Watching Captain Workshop will happen in collaboration with NHO Reiseliv “Bransjeforum for Reiseliv” (Business Forum for the Industry).
Parallel a course for Whale Watching Guides are held by our partner Tromsø Guideforening.
Together we want to develop a good standard for professional whale watching operations with a focus on safe implementation, good interaction between the operators on the fjord and safeguarding the welfare of the whales and the people involved.
Prices:
Business Forum for the Industry – NHO Reiseliv: Free of charge and open to all.
Whale Watching Captain workshop – Blue Wings: NOK 1260,-
Whale Watching Guide course – Tromsø Guideforening: NOK 3000,-
Registration and additional information of the events below:
Tromsø 07. Oct. – WW’Captain Workshop 09.00-16.00
Tromsø 07. Oct. – NHO Reiseliv “Bransjeforum” 17.00-20.00
Skjervøy 15.Oct. – NHO Reiseliv “Bransjeforum” 17.00-20.00
Skjervøy 16. Oct. – WW’ Captain Workshop15.00-21.30
Skjervøy 05. Nov. – WW’ Captain Workshop 15.00-21.30
Tromsø November (dates tba) – WW’ Guide course
Whale Watching Activity
An adapted workshop for local residents and others using the fjords around Skjervøy and Kvænangen. How we share the water with the whales, and with each other.
Skjervøy and KvænangenDates to be announced
Register for a workshop
Tell us who you are and which session suits you. We reply with the programme and practical details.
Eight modules. Aiming for a standard.
Throughout the day, we go through different topics about the whale watching operation by sharing experiences that already exist among the captains. We look in to professional expertise and international knowledge. The main goal is to share and discuss real situations and learn from each other across different forms of vessels and whale watching operations.
The Captain and the Human
The Captains role in Whale Watching; Situational awareness; Decisions; Human factors; Communication.
The Whale
Species; Characteristics; Behaviour and signals; Our influence; Animal welfare; Sounds.
Vessels and Safety
Weather; Sea conditions; Different WW vessels and restrictions; Other vessel traffic; Speed; Distance; Regulations.
Whale Watching in practice
Guidelines and Code of Conduct; Positioning to whales and other vessels; Distance estimation; Exposure time; How to read and handle different situations.
Interaction on the Fjord
Respect and politeness; Communication between vessels; Understanding the other players; Demanding situations; Cooperation.
Whale Watching Industry
Expectations; Different perspectives; Variety of Whale Watching operations; Visitor experience; Standard visibility.
Interaction
Sharing examples; Sharing experiences; Asking questions; Debating
Evaluation and Feedback
Workshop evaluation; Action impact in the season; How to measure the results; Future feedback.
One full working day or 2 half working days, on site.
Topics paired with real operational experience.
Your cases and questions will shape the session.
Documentation for your crew records.
Six stages. One shared framework.
From first research to a finished, industry backed standard. Developed stepwise, tested at sea, and refined by the fleet.
Research
Mapping current practice, science and international examples.
Workshops
Captains and stakeholders shape the framework together.
Draft Standard
Knowledge becomes a first written framework.
Pilot Testing
Draft procedures tested on real operations in Arctic conditions.
Industry Feedback
Reviews, challenges and redefinition of some elements.
Final Standard
A recognised, industry backed standard for Arctic whale watching captains.
A standard is only as strong as the coalition behind it.
The Whale Watching Captain Standard will only carry real weight in the industry if captains, operators, researchers, destination organisations across Arctic Norway, and other stakeholders actually help shape it and commit to using it. The whole industry should stand behind it!
Operators
Municipalities
Researchers
Destination organisations
The standard will be written. Help us write it right.
Whether you command a vessel, run an operation, study these whales or represent this coast, the framework will be better with you in the room.
Get in touch
Prefer to write to us directly? Send a message and we will reply. You can also reach us at info@bluewings.no.
Training and consulting for nature-based tourism in Norway. Founded by captains Susanne Strøm and Luís Dias.
Contact
info@bluewings.no
Skjervøy and Tromsø
Arctic Norway
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