Sunday, 23 August 2015

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Heading out to the bay we realized we soon had the best conditions of the day. The sea was completely flat, with no wind. We headed straight to the humpback whale we knew was in the bay. About 30mins in to our tour we had a pod of 5 white beaked dolphins chase the boat down to bow ride. They came right up to us, showing off their beautiful white backs. After 15mins they grew bored with us and carried on their way. We continued on to the humpback whale called Þröstur. All of a sudden we spotted it´s blow in the distance and were ecstatic to see it was surrounded by 4 white beaked dolphins. They were either bullying\playing with it. As if we didn´t have enough to see suddenly the first of 2 minke whales surfaced behind them. After spending a while with the animal we eventually ran out of time and headed home. On the way back we spotted the 2nd minke. Great weather, awesome tour!

-Tommy Torrades

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: On this tour we headed towards the same area than this morning to find the humpback whale again. On the way there, we encountered a total of four minke whales each traveling alone. However, we didn't slow down to get a closer look because we knew the humpback whale was quite far out in the bay. After almost 1,5 hours we finally found the humpback we call "Þröstur" and luckily found it traveling back in to Faxaflói closer to land. After we watched the humpback for a while, a group of 4-6 white-beaked dolphins showed up suddenly and started to follow the humpback - great for us so we could watch both species at the same time! On the way back to the harbour we also spotted another group of these dolphins (5-6 animals) but we didn't have time to slow down because we had spent so much time with Þröstur and the other dolphin pod. 

- Hanna Michel

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: On this afternoon tour we decided to immediately head out to the area of where this morning's humpback whale was spotted last. Since it was quiet a long way out the bay, we had no time to stop for the high amount of minke whales in the bay, as we were seeing at least 3 different individuals on our travels out the bay. As we finally reached the humpback whales it went for what seemed like a dive, but around one minute late the animal which we call Þröstur was jumping out of the water, greeting us in the best way possible. We continued to stay with this animal for a while until we had to go back to Reykjavik. Even though we were already low on time on our long way back we stopped for one of the three minke whales that we saw on our way back as well as a pod of white- beaked dolphins with around 5 individuals that came very close to the boat, before they continued traveling out into the bay.

- Michaela Buchbauer

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: The sky was covered in clouds and a cold wind was blowing on us when we departed from Reykjavik. In other words, we sailed in a typical Icelandic climate ! But such conditions were hardly troubles for a well trained crew and for tough passengers provided with toasty overalls. Having heard about whales from other whale watching boats, we dashed offshore to show them to our guests. After a while, we finally found a humpback whale. Needless to say, this individual was again þröstur, our faithful humpback in the bay of Faxa. Our dear friend was obviously tired, resting a lot, surfacing slowly at very low pace. Thanks to that, we could stay and look at this cetacean as much as we wanted. After half an hour of relaxed sighting, we left þröstur to look for other species. In doing so, we encountered a pod 6-8 white-beaked dolphins, but they were quite shy. They were surfacing only scarcely so it was a little bit tricky to follow them, still we managed to steal nice glimpses. We also came across a second pod of white-beaked dolphins, but these one were even more elusive. When time was due, we headed back to the harbour, still under chilly weather.

- Guillaume Calcagni

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: On this beautiful morning we left the harbour in search of cetaceans. We traveled out west where we found several minke whales. These animals seemed to be feeding, moving direction a lot, which made it a bit harder to spot them, but we still managed to. After a while we continued out the Faxaflói bay. Lucky as we were we spotted a blow, belonging to a humpback whale. This individual was around 8-9 meters in length. Our fortune continued when the animal started tail slapping as well as breaching twice, giving us quiet a show. We stayed with it for a bit, until we had to turn around and go back to the harbour. On the way back home we also encountered more minke whales as well as 2 different pods of white- beaked dolphins, with around 11 different individuals. Estimating around 5-7 minke whales.

- Michaela Buchbauer

Birds species seen on today's tours include: Atlantic puffins, Northern gannets, Northern fulmars, Common guillemots, Kittiwakes, Lesser black-backed gulls, Arctic terns, Arctic skuas