Thursday, 17 September 2015

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: Flat sea and sunshine, was this the last day of summer here in Iceland? Either way we had perfect conditions for a successful whale watching trip. It didn't take long until we found the first minke whale of the tour. It was a very nice minke that surfaced around us for a long time and we could get very good views of it. More whales to be found so we continued further out. Around 3 fishing boats we had 3 more minkes surfacing in different directions. We also got a great look of how you fish mackerel. After this we traveled for a short time trying to find some dolphins, which we did! A pod of 4-5 white-beaked dolphins could be enjoyed for a long time and they even came under the boat on several occasions. When we left the dolphins we could also see another minke at the same time so we could wave goodbye to both species at once. This felt like a summer tour even though we are now heading into our winter season, take the chance of joining us tomorrow for a whale watching trip out on Faxaflói!

- Marcus "Self-congratulating" Bergström 

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: It looks like today Faxa Bay wanted to make up for the bad weather of the last summer days. We got to sail on excellent sea conditions and with a warm sun on this trip ! With such a calm sea and so much visibility, it was only natural that we spotted our first minke whale very quickly. It was only 20 minutes after departure that we sighted the shiny black back on the water surface ! This individual allowed nice looks as it surfaced many times, but we did not get the occasion to get very close. To not harass this whale, and as it was still very early on the tour, we decided to sail further offshore to try to find other species. After a while we encountered a pod of 3-5 white-beaked dolphins that were first traveling quietly. When we came closer, the dolphins became interested in our boat and surfaced close to us a lot of times, swimming under the boat and changing sides. It was a powerful moment to look at them while they were also watching us ! While we were following those dolphins we spotted another minke whale, so we decided to say goodbye to the dolphins and try to see it closer. And it worked ! This minke whale was very young but also very curious and very brave, and in many occasions it surfaced less than 3 meters from the boat ! We enjoyed this whale as much as we could while it was in whale watching mood, before it headed away from us. We were running out of time so we had then to head back toward Reykjavik. Once again close to the harbour, we were blessed with a third minke whale. This one was clearly more shy, but it did not matter as we could see it few times and as it was a nice bonus. Regarding the weather and sea conditions, it was one of the best tours of September.

- Guillaume "Homo Sapiens" Calcagni

Bird species seen on today's tours include: northern gannet, arctic tern, northern fulmars, greater black-backed gull, eider duck, kittiwake and common guillemots.