Friday, 11 July 2014

Tour at 2030

Report from Elding: We sailed out on a calm and beautiful Faxaflói tonight. As we went through many areas searching for whales, the sky was nicely lit by the midnight sun and we had a stunning look at the Snæfellsjökull glacier. However, it was not very lively in the bay. Two minke whales were spotted but they were far away and did not surface again. A pod of harbour porpoises was briefly sighted but they too were elusive. So in the end, it was a nice evening sailing under a magical sky but sadly without whales. On the way back, Danni played the guitar and our passengers got their complimentary tickets.

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The rain was hitting us hard on the way out but soon the clouds made way for clear blue skies and the sun. For the longest time we saw nothing but water and many birds. Some Northern Gannets showed themselves beautifully in front of the boat. Eventually, we found our first Minke Whale close to the Whale Fjord. However, this individual was very elusive, so we left it for some more promising areas in the bay. Not long before we found two more Minke Whales surfacing synchronously next to each other and continued to travel together for the entire time we were observing them. We said our goodbyes when the whales eventually changed direction, but we made our way back to the harbour.

-Dominik Schmid

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It had started to rain quite a lot but the air was really still and the sea conditions very good. After 40 minutes sailing we spotted a group of 7-9 Harbour Porpoises, we sailed with them for 10 minutes. Shortly after we left the Harbour Porpoises we came to an airea with 3 Minke Whales. One of the Minke Whales we could identify as ''Humpie'' who we have been seeing in the bay since 2011. Humpie came up few times quite close to the boat. In the end we saw a groupe of 7-9 White-Beaked Dolphins.

Sigurlaug Sigurðardóttir

Tour at 9:00

Report from Hafsúlan: This morning the weather was much to our liking: Calm, slightly sunny and almost no wind. Shortly after we reached the area of the Bay of Faxa, where we have been most successful in sighting whales, some splashes in the distance made us aware of the presence of a 5-6 individual strong pot ofWhite-beaked Dolphins. The animals were leaping, chasing and milling peacefully in front of us for several minutes. Far in the distance we then made out 2 Minke Whales. One of the whales we were able to follow for several minutes, but it then submerged for an extended period and we decided to look for something else further out in the bay. Suddenly, however, a Minke Whale surfaced just 20 meters from the boat. It had a very obvious indentation on the peduncle, the base of the dorsal fin, -a rarely seen characteristic- and thus it was instantaneously identified as "Aura". After this short but exciting Minke Whale encounter, we found some 2 pods of White-beaked Dolphins, each about 5-6 individuals strong, before we headed back to the harbour.

-Dominik Schmid