Saturday, 21 June 2014

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: What a beautiful evening! We enjoyed a calm weather as we headed out this evening and soon, we found our first minke whale. It came up 4 or 5 times but then vanished. Oh well, we headed further and then manged to find about 3 minkes more that were spread out over a large area. Finally, we got close to one of them and managed to get very nice views. It surfaced really close to the boat a few times so that you could hear it breath! We then spotted two white-beaked dolphins which only came up three times. On the way back, the sun came out for a brief period and most went down into the saloon to listen to Bjarni sing and play the guitar. Nice summer solstice night!

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The weather was absolutely stunning this evening as we headed out onto the bay to begin our search. Again we headed out to the spot we had visited two times already today, hoping to find the minkes there again. We were not dissapointed and after thirty-five minutes of sailing we found a Minke whale! At first this individual was a bit elusive but as we went on further we found more minkes and each one more social than the last. We spent most of the tour in minke paradise with minkes all around us surfacing here and there. We got some very good looks at them as they were feeding around us, swimming fast and changing direction often. Towards the end of the tour the wind died down and we sailed back to Reykjavik in almost complete calm, able to enjoy the nature on our way back.

-Ívar Elí

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The wind seemed to have picked up just a bit from this morning but still, the weather was really good with a light westerly breeze. Again, we found a minke whale in no time and from then on it was easy. After having spent some time with the first minke, we headed into an area where there were about 6 minkes that appeared to be feeding in the surface as they surfaced frequently. There was also a pod of harbour porpoises that we came up quite close to the boat but disappeared soon after. We headed even further out and found 2 - 3 minkes more there before heading back again. On the way back, we sailed past the same minkes that had been feeding on the way out. All in all, there were about 10 minkes and 5 to 8 harbour porpoises. Nice afternoon out with the minkes today!

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Good conditions greeted us as we sailed out onto the bay today. There was a little wind but the sea state was good which always makes it easier to spot cetaceans. Today we didn't have to go very far to find something of note. About forty minutes after we departed from the harbour we found a Minke Whale! Soon afterwards we found a few more individuals but they were all quite elusive and did not want to talk to us. We had just decided to move on when we spotted another minke who was a lot more social. This individual swam alongside us and surfaced multiple time close to the boat. In that area we also found a few more minkes who showed more social behaviour than the first lot. After we had our fill of minkes we decided to head further out and search a bit more. Half an hour into our search we got reports of dolphins a bit further out and raced towards them. Pretty soon we spotted splashes in the distance from White-beaked Dolphins. They were moving very fast but as we got closer they started interacting with the boat. We could see them swimming very close to us just underneath the surface and surfacing right next to the boat. A fantastic ending to the tour! We then headed back to Reykjavik in the afternoon breeze.

-Ívar Elí

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: It was rather calm as we headed out on the Faxaflói bay this morning. It was looking a bit rainy but luckily, we managed to stay dry for most of the tour. It did not take us a long time to find the first minke whale. We saw it surface about 3 times before it vanished and we decided to head further out. We sailed into an area where there were some birds feeding and found 3 minke whales there. They were changing their speed and direction frequently and apparently feeding. On the way back, the sun even shone for a bit. Nice tour with nice minkes!

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Today there was very little wind and the swell came down compared to yesterday. The sky was still overcast but we were most of the time in a dry area while some parts of the landscape disappeard in the rain or clouds. In these circumstances we had quite good conditions to spot signs even further away so we managed to find througout the trip at least 7 Minke Whales. The first 2 we met in one area relativley close to each others and the one nearby had a dent at his back in between the dorsal fin and the tail. It seems like this whale has not been named yet eventhough it is not the first time we came across it. As an other whalewatching vessel arrived in the observation zone we continued our search for others. So we found more as we stopped several times. Some of these minke whales came quite close and in the quietness around us we could hear the forceful exhalation of a closeby minke very well. One rushed to the surface producing a lot of white water. We were able to see the upperesides of their heads where they have their 2 blowholes and several times as well the blow which is not always as clearly visible as today. We observed a lot of backs and dorsal fins some of them arching highly before descending diagonally for a dive. In the distance far away at the horizon we spotted several splashes which were probably made by breaching dolphins so we tried to get closer to them but as we were running out of time we had to sail back where we found some more minkes as we passed beside them. Everybody had very good chances to see and hear these numerous minke whales.

- Carine Zimmermann

Birds seen on today tour include: Kittiwake, Northern Fulmar, Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Common Guillemot, Arctic Tern, Arctic Skua, Lesser Black-Backed Gull.