Tour at 20:30
Report from Elding: We went out on a beautiful summer evening as the weather had improved from this morning, so we were excited. On earlier tours the crew on Elding had seen a lot of activity far out into the bay so we decided to head straight out. On our way we encountered a glimpse of a dorsal fin which was most likely from a harbour porpoise but unfortunately they didn't show them self again so we kept on going. It took us some time to find our first animal. We had sailed for about 1-1/2 hour when we encountered our first minke whale. We had come across an area that was full of fish load so we got excited as we might see some feeding behavior from this animal. The minke whale however wasn't really in a whale-watching mood and kept circling around the fish load. We decided after few good encounters of this animal to go back towards Reykjavík and scan on the way. The view over Snæfellsnes peninsula was just stunning with the sunset and after only few minutes we encountered our second minke whale just few hundred meters from the boat. We first saw some splashes in the water and figured that the whale was lunge feeding on the surface as there was a big load of fish right under the surface of the water. As we came close however he didn't show any special feeding behavior but everybody got a really good look at this individual. On our way back Bjarni, our musician took over and kept the fun going. Overall a pretty good tour with the midnight sunset in the backseat.
-Katrín Björnsdóttir
Tour at 17:00
Report from Hafsúlan: The weather had improved massively throughout the day and by this afternoon the sailing was much smoother than in the earlier tours. The sun was still shining and the visibility still fantastic too, we could see the entire bay from Reykjanes to the south all the way to Snæfellsnes in the north. The animals were not as active as they were in the earlier tours however, our first two potential sightings of minke whales led us to individuals that did not resurface within eyesight. As things were looking frustrating and after around 90 minutes we finally had a good sighting of a minke whale. It was traveling quickly and so made a big splash as it surfaced making it easy to locate. During the tour we had several good sightings of harbour porpoises that we not their usual shy self and were very easy to spot even among waves. Though this was a difficult tour we were still successful and the nice weather made the journey home pleasant.
- Jack Ball
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: The weather was very much the same as in the morning. After about 40 minutes of sailing we saw our first pod of white-beaked dolphins, a pod of 3-4 individuals that were not in a whale watching mood, after a few surfaces they dived deep and long and we couldn't follow. We carried on our was west and saw a minke whale but again it surfaced a couple of times and it was gone. The whole tour was like this. We saw so much, at least 5 minke whales, even a baby minke whale that much have only been about 3-4 meters long, which came just 30 meters from the boat and at least 20 dolphins in scattered pods here and there, we even got a glimpse of 2 pods of 2-3 harbour porpoises but like the rest,after a few surfaces they were gone, hidden amongst the waves. The tour got very exciting when we saw huge splashes on the horizon, at least 2 miles away, it must have been minke whales jumping out of the water, we went to have a look but they stopped. Another rocky but fun tour but looking forward to winds calming down again soon.
- Megan Whittaker
Tour at 13:00
Report from Hafsúlan: The strong wind and rough sea from the morning was still present. We sailed into the swells to make it out into the bay. The first sign of cetaceans were a group of white-beaked dolphins. A small pod of 3 individuals showed themselves well in the high swells. After that we left the dolphins we had two brief sightings of at least two minke whales, but the whales were elusive today and we didn´t manage to get the best views of the animals. A single harbour porpoise passed by the boat only visible when surfing the waves close to the surface. The tour ended with another sightings of white-beaked dolphins (2 pods of a total of 8-10 individuals) and in the distance a minke whale was seen. One of the dolphins we saw on this tour was Sophie, a dolphin we have seen in the bay since 2013. On this tour the dolphins saved the day and provided us with the best views!
- Marcus Bergström
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: The wind had picked up today, we have been so spoilt with the good weather over the last few weeks and calm seas that it was a bit saddening to head out into the strong winds. Once out there though I forgot how much I also enjoy the rougher seas. "Hold on tight and bend your knees" was a common sound on the microphone but everyone got their sea legs soon enough. We tried our best to keep the boat as steady as possible, using the mountains and landscape to do so. We wanted to search the area we found the humpback whales the evening before but they had moved on we did see 2 minke whales though, one of them was our friend Háski that has been seen numerous times the last weeks and first cataloged in 2013. We also a pod of 5-7 white-beaked dolphins but they were traveling fast and we got distracted by the minke whales to keep track of where they were. We also got a great glimpse of a pod of 2-3 harbour porpoises, one in particular was very curious and you could follow as it swim towards us and down the side of the boat. It was a bit of a roller coaster ride but very exciting and productive. Lots of fun to be on the water.
-Megan Whittaker
Tour at 09:00
Report from Hafsúlan: It was a wet and windy summer day here, very different from our normal days of flat sea but we always like a challenge here. But the weather was very different, blue sky and sunshine all day! It took some time to find our first animals, just over an hour passed before we found our first pod of white-beaked dolphins which was at first just 3 individuals large but later grew to 6-7 dolphins. They were as good as always, showing themselves frequently close to the boat and swimming just beneath the surface where we could still watch them. These dolphins led us a minke whale which was being elusive so we carried on with the dolphins. But then they led us to a second minke whale which was much better! Surfacing in full view of the passengers on board even with the waves this morning. It was an adventure and a challenge, but we completed it.
- Jack Ball
Bird species seen on today´s tours include: northern gannets, northern fulmars, arctic terns, arctic skuas, atlantic puffins, kittiwakes, common guillemots, greater and lesser black backed gulls, european storm petrels and manx shearwaters.
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