Friday, 06 June 2014

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It had become a bit windier as we headed out at 5pm. The weather was still top notch and we headed to the area where we had left the minke whales in the 13:00 o'clock tour. Sadly, they were not there any more and the birds seemed to have left too. But as we headed a bit further we found them again. There were three to four minke whales feeding all around us blowing vigorously out of their blow holes. After we had spent some time with the minkes, we got some very nice white-beaked dolphin sightings as we spent around 20 minutes with a small pod of 5 to 6 dolphins. They leaped and breached and even interacted with our boat. Awesome! On our way back to Reykjavík, we saw two more minkes but couldn't stop for them because we were already running quite late. Great day, great whales, great weather!

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: Once again we headed out to one of our most productive areas in the bay where we once again not disappointed. on this tour we saw 4-6 Minke Whales which seemed to be travelling, milling and feeding in the area. Showing themselves very well as we spent about a hour watching them surface all around the boat. We also encountered a small pod of White-beaked Dolphins, a pod of about 5 which were more elusive than the whales and so we stayed less time with them, leaving them in peace. Another wonderful evening out on the bay.

-Ivar

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: As we headed out on the Faxaflói bay this afternoon, the winds had picked up slightly from this morning and it was a north westerly breeze but the sky was still clear and temperatures high on an icelandic standard. The first hour was a bit difficult as we did not manage to get a good look at the minke whales despite the feeding birds we could observe all around. After a while, we decided to head further out and lo and behold, there were 7 to 10 minke whales feeding all around us, surfacing close to us and breathing heavily so that we got to hear it! Amazing. Throughout the tour, we had harbour porpoises surface here and there but never very close to the boat. Excellent sightings on one of the best days this summer weatherwise and visibilitywise!

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 10:00

Report from Skrúður: It was a beautiful and plentiful morning out on the bay on this tour. We sailed out to the area of where our other whale watching vessel but found some Minke Whales with no other vessels around them. Throughout the tour we much have had about 4-6 Minke Whales and on a couple of occasions we had them surfacing on both sides of the boat. Some far and some close. It was really nice to get some pictures of the minke whales in the foreground and the stunning landscape in the background. A wonderful afternoon.

-Megan

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Great sea and weather conditions were welcoming us today to go out into the sanctuary of Faxaflói. A flat, blue north Atlantic ocean reflecting the cloudless blue sky. Perfect visibility of the Reykjanes and Snæfellsnes the two peninsulas bordering the bay around Reykjavik and in the crystal clear air we saw the glacier volcano Snæfellsjökull ahead of us. These conditions have been quite rare in the last days, where it was hard to believe that the sun should be out for almost 24 hours a day. But today people were sunbathing and very few were wearing an overall. After a while passing different scattered seabirds we saw our first Harbour Porpoises appearing. Then we were observing alternately Minke Whales and the porpoises. All in all there were 4-6 minkes that we watched in 3 areas and there were in all situations, 2 relatively close to each others. It might be that we found the first two at the end of the trip again because on the photos of the researchers they looked the same. The first porpoises have been scattered in small groups but at least during the last encounter with the feeding birds there have been several surfacing close together. Overall around 20 individuals. But the highlight of this tour was definitley a curious minke whale which was swimming around our stopped vessel, having a human watching from a distance of only 2 meters.

- Carine Zimmermann

Birds seen on todays tours include: Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Puffins, Black-backed gulls, Arctic skuas, Pomarin skuas, Arctic terns, Common guillemots, Black gulliemots, Manx shearwaters, Eider ducks, Northern gannets and Cormorant.