Tour at 20:30
Data missing
Tour at 17:00
Starting the tour on Lundey, we were surprised to find many Puffins not home. We found them once we came into the bay though: A big flock of them far away from their colony, no doubt looking for some sandeel for their young ones. Rushing out to a massive flock of feeding Gannets, we soon found ourselves surrounded by Minke whales. Must have been some 5-6 individuals circling us for a while and diving underneath the boat. Meanwhile, the Gannets, the largest seabird in the Atlantic were diving into the water by the second, prompting some on board to confuse the splashes with blows of a whale. Just as we were leaving, one Minke surfaced right in front, not even 5m away. What a nice farewell from the whales!
Birds seen on this tour: Gannets (lots!) , Arctic Terns, Arctic Skuas, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Black-Backed Seagulls, Fulmars, Eider ducks
Tour at 14:00
Once again the seas were rough but that didn't detur the whales. Must have seen at least 5-7 Minke Whales on this tour unfortunately they were being quite difficult and only surfacing once of twice. Not as many birds around either which made finding the whales a bit more challenging but we did it. The Puffins were great as well, thousands seen flying around Akurey.
Tour at 13:00
It was still strong wind when we headed out this afternoon. Soon we spotted a pod of harbour porpoises but only twice before they disappeared. Then we came to an area with lots of feeding gannets and it was quite spectacular to watch these elegant birds diving down in to the sea. In this area we spotted two minke whales, but very far away and they only surfaced twice and we could not find them again. On the way back to the harbour we got a call from Elding, our sister ship, that they had found a minke whale and they sure did. Very nice minke witch surfaced quite often and we even could smell it (uffffff) and we hope that all our passengers could see this whale.
Tour at 10:00
Despite the rough seas, cloudy skies and the drizzle it was actually a very good tour. We started at Akurey and saw thousands of Puffins flying around and resting on the water. We then headed offshore to find ourselves in the middle of a large flock of feeding Gannets. First time this summer to see so many Gannets plunging into the water, something I've definitely been looking forward too. The Minke Whales were also enjoying the surf, we must have seen at least 4-5 on this tour and on a couple of occasions the 10-20 meters from our boat. If that wasn't enough we also came across 2 Harbour Porpoises that also came 5 meters from us. Great Tour!!
Tour at 09:00
Report from Elding: It was blowing strong wind from south-east when we headed out from Reykjavík harbour this morning. Short visit by the puffin island Lundey and then out to Faxaflói. The whales were in a bad mood and it was difficult to get close to them but we managed to spot one nice minke whale. The whale surfaced three times 30-60 meters from us. So, a bit rocky tour this morning.
Report from Hafúlan: It was a little bit windy but we were not daunted by the seas and were richly rewarded. A lot of fish out in the bay attracted many Minke whales and we encountered about 3-4 individuals out in Faxaflói really close to the boat and stayed with us for a long while. Looking further we encountered some more. With the visit to Lundey and good sightings it's been a fun and successful tour!