Friday, 25 April 2014

Tour at 13:00

Report from Elding, Elding II and Skrúður: The weather today was absolutely perfect, the sea was still and the wind could barely be felt. The sun was shining too, it was actually warm today! Add the great weather to the four species we got to see this afternoon and we have a fantastic tour. The first species we saw was the Harbour Porpoises, normally the porpoises are very shy but these ones were very calm as they travelled slowly around the boats. Over the course of the tour we must have seen at least 100 porpoises, they were everywhere! The second species was the Minke Whale and once again we got a good look at this whale, surfacing close to us several times before eventually diving. Our other boats were in another spot with a Minke Whale named Humpie (has a dorsal fin like a humpback whale) that was first catalogued in 2011 and one of the main Minkes we encountered last summer. Species number three was the White-Beaked Dolphins, and just like the others we were able to get a great look at them as they were travelling slowly in the area being very calm. And our final species was the Humpback Whale, we were actually heading home when it suddenly appeared! And it was constantly diving and raising its big fluke high into the air when it dived, this was especially beautiful when the sun was reflecting off the body of the whale. A day of beauty and tranquility, and of fantastic sea life!

- Jack, Megan and Linda

Tour at 09:00

Report from Elding: The weather was sublime this morning. It really could not have got any better. Sea was like a mirror and even though it was very cloudy you still felt the warmth from the sun. It was also spectacular with the wildlife as we saw 4 species of cetacean this morning. Humpback Whale, Minke Whale, White-beaked Dolphins, and Harbour Porpoises. The porpoises 40+ scattered throughout the tour, they were just everywhere you looked. Dolphins seemed to be mainly resting and so we just hung back and watched as they just milled around. There was probably 15-20 scattered small pods. There was also a couple of dolphins around the Humpback Whale which started rolling, either playing with the dolphins or getting very annoyed by them. The Minke Whale was spotted at the end of the tour, surfaced maybe 3-4 times before going on a deep dive, which was our time to head home. Wonderful morning.

-Megan

Birds seen on todays tour include: Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Northern Fulmar, Kittiwake, Eider Duck, Common Guillemot, Black-Backed Gull, Greylag Geese, Shags.