La Gomera a location for Ron Howard's new film 'In The Heart Of The Sea' (+Updates)

Oscar winning Hollywood film producer and director Ron Howard has been spotted location scouting on La Gomera last week. Apparently he was looking for possible locations for his new film 'Heart of the Sea'.
'deadline.com' decribes the film as follows: 'Warner Bros' In The Heart Of The Sea is the long-gestating seafaring adventure helmed by Ron Howard from a script by Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond). Chris Hemsworth is starring in the pic adapted from Nathaniel Philbrick’s award-winning book In The Heart Of The Sea: The Tragedy Of The Whaleship Essex, an account of a whaling ship that was stalked and destroyed by a sperm whale in 1820. The tragedy left the crew of the Essex adrift for 90 days in the Pacific during which they turned to cannibalism before eight survivors made it home, an ordeal that partially influenced Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. Tom Holland is set to star as Young Nickerson, an eager aspiring whaleman aboard the Nantucket-based ship Essex. Filming will commence this September in London and on location.'
Howard also visited Lanzarote in his search for locations and tweeted the following pictures taken on La Gomera and just off the coast:

Howard wrote: 'This morning's location scout'

Howard tweeted 'Cool wall art - Lago Mera'

UPDATE 1:
According to well-informed sources it now seems almost certain that filming for Ron Howards  'In The Heart Of The Sea' will indeed begin on La Gomera in autumn 2013. The 300-strong cast and crew are expected to stay at a luxury hotel in Playa de Santiago for about two months and scenes at sea will be shot off the south coast. About 100 additional local technicians, tradesmen, catering staff, extras, etc. are expected to be employed as well.

The area in the Atlantic just off the coast between Playa Santiago and Valle Gran Rey where filming is planned is aptly renowned for the very frequent spottings of cetaceans.

Update 2 (Aug.3rd,2013):
Ron Howard was on La Gomera again yesterday and the day before and tweeted the following:

Ron Howard ‏@RealRonHoward1 Aug

Dinner in La Gomera scouting locations for Heart of the Sea

Meanwhile 'Empire' in its online edition has reported two Irish actors joining the cast:

Brendan Gleeson Boards In The Heart Of The Sea Ron Howard finds another sailor 04 July 2013  |  Written by James White  |  Source: Variety

Ron Howard is gathering an interesting cast around for his latest project, the adaptation of Nathan Philbrick’s book In The Heart Of The Sea. Brendan Gleeson and Sam Keeley are the latest recruits. In The Heart Of The Sea follows the harrowing real-life struggle endured by the men aboard Nantucket whaling ship the Essex, which was destroyed by a vengeful sperm whale in 1820. Stranded in a lifeboat thousands of miles from home, 20 of the surviving crew (the survivors included the captain and first officer) at first planned to make for an isolated tropical island but the idea was rejected because of rumours of flesh-eating savages. The resulting delay in their rescue led to them becoming cannibals to survive. Gleeson is set to play an older version of one of the crewmembers who did make it through the tragedy, likely framing the story as Herman Melville interviews him for research on Moby Dick. We’d expect him to face some awkward questions about how his crewmates tasted. Keeley, meanwhile, will be one of those facing the rigors of the incident as it happens. They join Chris Hemsworth, Ben Walker, Cillian Murphy and Tom Holland in the film, set to kick off shooting this coming September in London (and continue in the Canary Islands) Update   (Aug.14th, 2013) here:Casting on La Gomera for Ron Howard movie  ...and how the casting went: Casting Howard's Hopeful Herd Update  (Aug.30th 2013) here: Ron Howard's film set on La Gomera for 'In the Hea... UPDATE Nov.4th: Ron Howard's Heart of the Sea getting ready to roll on location La Gomera. Latest images of preps + props ++ ----------- ....also see my post Ridley Scott to film in Canary Islands