Thursday, 29 May 2014

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: What a FANTASTIC tour! We headed out in calm winds and calm seas. When we were barely out of the harbour a radio call came in from our Videy ferry captain about a whale he had spotted close to Engey. We immediately turned to investigate and pretty soon caught a few glimpses of a likely cetacean. It took about ten minutes of searching but then we saw what we first thought was a Minke but turned out to be two Humpbacks! It surfaced very close to shore and was headed even closer. Then we saw it surface right in the mouth of the harbour and soon another one surfaced! After that we were in for a treat of a lifetime. They surfaced together very calmly almost inside the harbour for an hour as we looked on. They swam up close many times, giving us a look at the whole body and white pectoral flippers. We then followed them slowly out to sea thinking our selves very lucky and looking forward to a return in the calm evening weather. Then as we asked ourselves how this could get any better one of the humpbacks breached, bringing its whole body out of the water and crashing down in a big splash. It was suffice to say an epic ending to an absolutely awsome trip. Soon after that we headed back in extremely high spirits and very, very happy.

-Ívar Elí

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: This afternoon the wind had picked up but the weather was still quite pleasant and the sea state was good. To start off we headed back out to where we saw the minkes on the last tour, hoping to catch another glimpse. But before we reached that spot we were set upon by a pod of Harbour Porpoises! They are usually quite elusive but this time around they actually gave us quite a good show. They surfaced quite a few times and despite their small size we could see them quite well. After that we sailed on, hoping to find some larger cetaceans. Luckily we soon caught a glimpse of a Minke whale! This individual was very elusive though and we had a hard time getting a good look at it. Fortunately we were able to get one or two good looks at it before we had to turn back.

-Ívar Elí

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafúslan: We sailed out today in relatively calm seas and an easterly gust. Our search began out on Faxaflói and we had searched for about 40 minutes until we came upon our first whale of the day, a Minke whale! At first this individual was quite elusive and we only caught glimpses of the whale here and there. Then as our trip progressed we came upon another 3-4 minkes. They were quite friendly and we got some good looks at them. Then as we were headed back a Harbour porpoise showed itself, surfacing 2-3 times before swimming off. A very nice cap on the tour or so we thought. As we got closer to land a lone White-beaked dolphin popped up in front of us and again off on our left hand side. All in all a good tour and we headed back to the harbour in good spirits.

-Ívar Elí

Birds seen on today's tours include: Lesser black backed seagull, kittiwakes, northern gannets, arctic skuas, eider ducks, fulmars, puffins, common guillemots, razorbills, manx shearwaters, arctic terns.