Tour at 20:30
Report from Elding: The last trip of the day started off a bit rough, since the wind speed was increasing. Nevertheless we were optimistic to find the animals we saw earlier again on this tour. Traveling west, with the wind in our back turned out to be a smooth ride, until we had to change direction. Passengers were obviously happy to be wearing the warm overalls we provide on our boats. We searched several areas, looking for any kind of cetaceans, but unfortunately didn't encounter any animals. The flocks of arctic terns we saw during the day feeding on the surface vanished as well, suggesting that the food supply moved to a different area. Since we didn't encounter any marine mammals we offered our passengers complimentary tickets, valid for two years.
- Michaela Buchbauer
Tour at 17:00
Report from Hafsúlan: The sea was not as smooth as this morning, since the wind had picked up a little bit. The sailing was still comfortable, though, and the sun finally came out. We headed into the same area as this morning that had provided us with so many cetaceans. However, we kept searching for a long time unsuccessfully. Then, we spotted a blow and waited for the minke whale to show up, but we did not spot it. We moved in to an area, where a few white-beaked dolphins had bin spotted earlier, but they probably had left. After about two hours we finally saw a minke whale. We saw a blow first, then got a little closer and then it surfaced only 50 m away from us. We saw another minke whale a little further away, but unfortunately both individuals didn't stay around and vanished. Since we didn't spot any other cetaceans on this tour, we offered complimentary tickets valid for the next two years, that enable our passengers to come with us on another tour for free.
- Hanna Michel
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: On the afternoon tour we went out west again, trying to find the animals we encountered in the morning. Going out, the sky was covered with clouds again. This made it easier to spot cetaceans further away, getting a better contrast on the water, due to the clouds reflecting on the surface. After a short search we encountered one minke whale that seemed to be feeding, moving around very unpredictable in the areas where several flocks of arctic terns were scanning the surface for food. Even though it was moving very fast, changing direction constantly, we still got to see it many times. Occasionally the animal was coming up close to the boat, giving our passengers many opportunities for some incredible pictures. We stayed until we had to head back to the harbour, since the animal seemed to be very relaxed around the boat. On the way to Reykjavik we spotted additional cetaceans, a small pod of white- beaked dolphins, around three individuals. This was the perfect and surprising ending for our tour.
- Michaela Buchbauer
Tour at 13:00
Report from Hafsúlan: The sea conditions on this afternoon tour were very nice for sailing, the wind and swell gave us a comfortable ride throughout. The sightings were excellent too! It took us just around 45 minutes before a blow was sighted in the distance, following this blow led us to our first minke whale! Though this first whale was not the most fun whale it did lead us to an area where there were 4-5 more minke whales feeding across a large area. For the next 30 minutes we were surrounded by minke whales, all surfacing often and close to the boat on occasion. There was even a couple of rolling minke whales causing huge splashes in the middle of big flocks of birds. After some time we moved on to find something more and found 2 more minke whales! So we had a minketastic day that was full of great minke whale activity.
- Jack Ball
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: This rather cloudy morning we left the harbour in search of cetaceans. On our travels further out, going west, we already heard reports of several minke whales being sighted. Indeed, it didn't take long until we spotted our first minke whale, out of 2.4 individuals. Short time later another animal appeared, making it hard to decide which one to follow. We watched several different whales for a while, getting some very close up encounters. During these we also sighted two harbour porpoises, which vanished as fast as they appeared. At some point we had to head back to Reykjavik, saying goodbye to these incredible creatures. Entering the harbour the cloud cover finally lifted a bit, giving us a picture worth view at Esja and Reykjavik.
- Michaela Buchbauer
Tour at 09:00
Report from Hafsúlan: We started sailing out in to Faxaflói in a flat sea this morning. We soon came into a good area with at least four minke whales around us. It was hard to get a closer look at each individual, since they were pretty quick and didn't surface on a regular basis. However, we were patient and had a few minkes surfacing close to us a couple of times. Inbetween, a small pod of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins kept us company. Before we had to go back to the harbour, the stayed close to us for a while, so that our passengers could see the animals' white beak and the white stripe on the side of their bodies.
- Hanna Michel
Bird species seen on today's tours include: northern gannet, northern fulmars, kittiwakes, puffins, manx shearwater, black-backed gulls, arctic terns, common guillemots, razorbills, shags.
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