Tour at 13:00
Report from Hafsúlan and Elding: both boats went out on this, the last day of February, and it is safe to say that the air was filled with excitement after yesterday's outstanding tour. Again the town of departure was Grindavik and Elding sailed out first. Virtually in the harbour mouth the guide on Elding spotted the first blow of a humpback whale and so the action was on; that was quick as yesterday we had to travel around one hour to the southwest before finding whales. However, today was different in more ways. There was more capelin (fish on which the humpback whales like to feed) close to Grindavik but the whales, at least 2 and possibly up to 3-4, were less predictable and the swell did not help either; they made more dives and reappeared in very differt places. Often we would just see one blow and a back, then it would be a while before another one would be seen, but from time to time we would see the animals very well and it was also remarkable to see the difference in the blows, something which can often aid in idendifying the respective animal. Some of the blows were bushy and 'only' maybe 3-4 meters high but at least one of the blows, seen towards the very end, was a taller and narrower column which bore similarities to that of a fin whale, although it should be too early for them now, they are most likely either still down in the equatorial waters or heading up here for the summer. It would have been one of the humpback whales. Anyhow around then we figured we should start heading back and did so quite content!
- Baldur and Megan
Birds seen on today's tour: northern gannet, black-backed gull, razorbill, common guillemot, black-legged kittiwake, european shag, great cormorant, eider duck.
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