Thursday, 12 June 2014

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The weather this afternoon was much the same as we headed out onto the bay for our last trip of the day. We decided this time around to head further south and begin our search. The wind had picked up slightly by the time we got further out onto the bay but conditions were still optimal for whale watching. It wasn't long until we spotted something in the distance and pretty soon we got close enough to identify it as a Minke whale! And like so many times today we almost immidieately spotted a few more individuals around us. These animals were quite social and came up close to us on either side. We even spotted a few known individuals, both Peanut and Flickr. As the tour progressed we were spotting minkes pretty consistently at distances usually around a hundred metres. Then all of a sudden a minke surfaced right in front of us, almost within touching distance. Those at at the front saw it extremely well and were quite surprised. This individual then surfaced again very close to our side. A truly fantastic sighting. We then headed back to Reykjavík in high spirits and even spotted 2 further minkes closer to shore. An excellent tour!

-Ívar Elí

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The wind was a little higher than this morning but all day we´ve had a warm wind from the east so we were always very comfortable. The sea was still flat too, so our visibility was excellent all day. We were very confident sailing out as we had been so successful in the morning, we just had to find that same great area! This afternoon would turn to be very similar to the morning, though along with Minke Whales we also saw another species in the Harbour Porpoises. We found three porpoises that were all very elusive, they would appear near a minke whale but soon disappear. At first the minkes were staying quite far away and our sightings were sparse. But after following some whales we found what we needed, a feeding area. There were three whales in this area that were coming very close and giving us a much better show. And once again we found a minke that we know very well, this one is named "Midi". Always good to see an old friend on a good tour!

- Jack Ball

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Conditions this afternoon were absolutely perfect for whale watching. The seas were mirror flat and the wind was practically non-existent. We could see for miles and were very confident that we would spot something today. We were not disappointed and about 35 minutes after leaving the harbour we spotted our first Minke whale of the day. Almost immideately after we spotted the first one, minkes seem to surface all around us. A couple came quite close to us and were very calm and social. The rest of the tour was all in all a minke fest. A total of fourteen minkes were spotted throughout the tour including two known individuals called Peanut and Midi. An excellent tour with theses minkes today!

-Ívar Elí

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: I hope this patch of great weather never ends, once again we were blessed with flat ocean and almost no wind. On these days its always hard to believe we are sailing in the North Atlantic! We had heard reports of whales to be seen in an area around 50 minutes out of Reykjavík and those reports would turn out to be true, we found a group of Minke Whales! This was a great tour where we could get to the whale area, turn off the boat of the engine and let the whales be our entertainment and in total we saw around 6-7 whales. At the start the whales were being a bit elusive but as the tour progressed they got better and by the end one minke that we know well named "Happy" was coming very close to the boat and staying there for a long time. We could even see the white stripes along the flippers of the minke under the surface. It was an incredibly relaxing tour with some real excitement thrown in at the end.

- Jack Ball

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Winds were calm as we left the Reykjavík harbour this morning. We were barely out of the harbour when the captain spotted a single harbour porpoise. We stopped for a while to see if it would surface again but it did not. So we headed out on the bay and after about 40 minutes, we spotted the first minke whale. From then on it was easy. Minkes were surfacing all around us, spread over quite a large area but since the conditions were excellent this morning, they could be spotted from miles away. One minke whale came very close to the boat and they could often be heard breathing when they surfaced. All in all there were about 10 to 12 animals and among them was Happy, a minke whale that we have been seeing a lot of lately. Excellent tour!

-Arnór Tumi

Birds seen on today's tours include: Puffins, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Arctic terns and Arctic skuas, Gannet, Razorbill, Guillemotte.