Sunday, 22 June 2014

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: The day had been getting better and better, every tour improving upon the last. Though the last tour was excellent this one could still match it for quality. We were treated to perfect weather conditions, the sky (for the first time in a long time) was clear and we could see the entire sky and more importantly the sun too! As the tour progressed the sun was getting lower and lower while never setting, and as it lowered the sky was changing colour constantly. Every time you looked back up to the heavens you would be treated to a new spectacle. And of course this was also a whale watching trip! There were two Minke Whales that we managed to get a fantastic look at as they were both calmly swimming around our boat and giving us the perfect photo opportunities. Both separate whales gave us a long sighting each and the first whale was one we knew quite well, this was "Aura"! After our whale sightings we slowly sailed back to Reykjavík with fantastic live music to accompany us as the sun carried on its descent. A truly beautiful tour that took the breath away of everyone, and that includes the crew.

- Jack Ball

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Almost entirely clear blue sky and a little wind we encountered as we were heading out, these nice conditions even improved with the time as the wind calmed down and the spotting conditions were quite well, so that 2 big blows were sticking out of the blue ocean, easily visible for every one even further away. These blows were not together but in one line from our view of angle but some distance in between them. As we came closer to the first big blow we also were able to see the appertaining body. Even tough we didn't see this animal from the perfect angle at the first sight we were suspecting that we found something else than the more frequent species. With the next surfacing it became 100% sure that we found a Humpback Whale which is at this time of year something special. As he was quite close to us in front, he breached! We observed half of its turning body with his long snow white pectoral fins - which gave him part of his Latin name "huge wing" - emerging once. We had to wait some time but then this whale started travelling slowly while we were following him in a respectful distance. We were able to see the blow, the back and the characteristically small dorsal fin regularly every few minutes until we decided to leave him alone and initiating a new search of an other species. Soon after we successfully found a Minke Whale and then one more in a fish rich area with feeding arctic terns. Even on our way back we met 2 others and were very pleased about this incredible tour.

- Carine Zimmermann

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding. The weather had gotten much nicer this afternoon as we headed out. We started off with a pod of about 6 harbour porpoises that approached us and swam under the boat! When they had disappeared we headed on into an area where about 5 minke whales were feeding. they surfaced frequently and some came very close. A lot of fish was showing on the fishfinder and it was quite lively. We headed even further and saw a humpback whale surface 4 times! It was preceded by huge blows and a loud sigh. Amazing! Sadly, the humpback vanished as suddenly as it appeared and on the way back, we saw some of the same minkes that had been seen on the way back. Great day with a nice surprise at the end.

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The situation out at sea changed completely compared to the tour at 09:00. It was no roller coaster ride anymore as the swell almost disappeared and the little wind we had cleared the clouds fast away. Finally the sky turned blue and the sun was warming us. The last days even we just passed the longest day with 24 hours daylight we have barley see the sun but now we saw the reverse of the medal. Just enjoying this fact was already great but it came even better. We gazed at the snowy mountains of Snæfellsnes up to Snæfellsjökull. We first spotted 2 surfing Harbour Porpoises which came from the front and passed along side our boat. A bit later we found our first Minke Whale of this tour which we recognized as "Peanut", an individual which we are familiar with since 2007. We had a closeup look at him before we continued searching and we found 2 more minkes in the same area. As our time was running out we started to sail back were we found one more Minkes on the way.

- Carine Zimmermann

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: This morning, there was a bit of a swell in the bay so we urged out passengers to take sea sickness pills before heading out. It took us longer than we would have wanted to find a whale but after about an hour, minke whales started surfacing around us. Some of them came very close. They were changing their course a lot and appeared to be feeding. As the tour went on, the weather got much nicer and on the way back we had the wind from behind and the sailing was much smoother.

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The sea conditions this morning gave us quite a shock, it was almost like a return to winter, Iceland has no man made rollercoasters so we have to settle for days like this! The wind wasn´t too strong though so at least it was a lot warmer than in the winter. Over the course of the trip we saw three Minke Whales and two Harbour Porpoises. It took us over an hour to find the first whale and it surfaced several times, though each time it showed just its dorsal fin and this could be hidden behind some of the waves. The other two minkes were also acting like this, the waves made it hard to get a good look at them. The best animals of the day were the porpoises though, these Harbour Porpoises were calm around us and could be seen even over the waves. We don´t often get a good look at this species so that is always a pleasure. But because our look at the whales wasn´t very satisfying and we didn´t see any dolphins we decided to hand out complimentary tickets at the end of the tour, this way everyone can try for a better day within the next two years.

- Jack Ball

Birds seen on todays tour include: Kittiwake, Northern Fulmar, Northern Gannet, Common Guillemot, Atlantic Puffin, Arctic Tern, Black-Backed Gull, Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua, Eider Duck.