Tour at 17:00
Report from Hafsúlan: This afternoon was quite windy but the sun shone down on us and the skies were clear as we sailed out onto Faxa Bay. We sailed out between Akurey and Engey before heading in a southerly direction towards where we had seen cetaceans earlier on. The sailing out was quite rough and we battled against the wind to reach our main whale watching area. Quite soon we started spotting some blows but it took a few minutes to identify its owner, a minke whale! This individual was quite elusive and proved difficult to follow however and we soon headed off to search further. Luckily we found another individual close by and were able to get a good look at it as it surfaced between us and our sister vessel Elding. We stayed with this individual for a while before sailing back comfortably to shore with the wind at our backs in the evening sun.
-Ívar Elí Sveinsson
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: The wind picked up from the morning as we steamed out in to Flax bay. With many white caps, the sea conditions were a little rougher than this morning but still comfortable.We made it to the same area that treated us in the morning, all of a sudden bursting through a flock of diving birds a minke whale was feeding. This minke was curious about us surfacing near us a few times before going on a deep dive and vanishing. We awaited its return in the same area before spotting a brief glimpse of another minke. Apparently the minkes were camera shy but we kept an eye out on the journey home. A successful tour for all the bird lovers and with a few sighting of minkes I think the passengers were happy as I was.
- Hanna Michel
Tour at 13:00
Report from Hafsúlan: The wind was the same and it was a little difficult to keep balance as we slowed down and had the swell on the side of the boat. Most passengers enjoyed it however. We sailed towards the same area as this morning and soon found a flock or birds, gannets, kittiwakes, arctic terns but less than this morning. No cetaceans were here though so we continued on our path. After a few minutes more we encountered a minke whale. A difficult individual to track but was seen a few times. It was the same with the other 2-3 minke whales we saw on this tour as they were surfacing unpredictably and not coming too close. We also encountered 2 pods of harbour porpoises, 2-3 animals in each. 2 porpoises came within 10 meters of the boat and could clearly be seen swimming along side until it was too far away and out of sight.
- Megan Whittaker
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: With a light breeze blowing under a beautiful blue sky, we sailed out in to Faxaflói. While tanning in the beautiful sun we reached the best whale watching area in about an hour. Hafsúlan directed us to three feeding minke whales. We were treated to them lunge feeding and surfacing quite close to the boat. It was at this time we turned off the engines to quietly float amongst the artic terns diving and the minke whales surfacing. A very relaxing experience that everyone enjoyed. We said goodbye to the minke whales and puttered along until we reached the port. Now time to enjoy the sailors festival!
-Hanna Michel
Tour at 09:00
Report from Hafsúlan: The wind had picked up today and there was many white caps out in the bay, a cold northerly wind that caused the need for overalls that we offer free of charge on board our whale watching boats. We headed straight to one of our more successful areas and once again was not disappointed. Arctic terns covered the seas as they skimmed down for copepods, small crustaceans and minke whales must have a full belly today too. Must have seen at least 6 minke whales this morning, we could identify 2 of the individuals as Shark (seen since 2007) and Flickr (seen since 2009). On a couple of occasions harbour porpoises popped up. At least 2 pods of 2-3 animals. It was a nice calm sailing on the journey home and everyone enjoyed the sun on their faces.
- Megan Whittaker
Bird species seen on today's tour include: northern gannets, northern fulmars, black-legged kittiwakes, lesser black-backed gulls, arctic skuas, arctic terns, common guillemots, razorbills, eider ducks, shags, manx shearwaters, glaucous gulls and puffins.
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