TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2016

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: We had the same great weather that we've had all day but it had gotten a bit colder so the over-alls came to good use. We started sailing to the same place where we last spotted a humpback and encountered about 4-6 white-beaked dolphins. They were jumping around and splashing in the water which was very fun to see. They were kind of elusive inbetween the splashing and when we hadn't seen them for some time we decided to keep looking for the humpback. We spotted maybe 8-10 harbour porpoises during the tour but they were very elusive so we didn't stop for them but just enjoyed them as they were passing by. Then we spotted a blow behind us that turned out to be a humpback whale, it surfaced a few times and we were lucky enough to see it raise it's beautiful fluke which was the perfect ending to a good tour and a great day.

-Bryndís Ösp Birgisdóttir

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: This afternoon started of like this morning, calm sea, blue sky and snow covered mountains, so excellent conditions for spending an afternoon whale watching in Faxa bay. After about 25 minutes of sailing out from the old harbour of Reykjavik, we saw 6-8 white-beaked dolphins flashing us with their beautiful stripes. Soon thereafter we also got a glimpse at a minke whale, but decided look further out where another boat had encountered a humpback whale. When we arrived we could see it surfacing and showing us it's fluke. We spotted a second blow in the far distance and started heading there. As it turned out we could not find a humpback, but instead we saw another minke whale and 4-6 harbour porpoises, they were even jumping. After a while, when we had turned around, we first saw a minke whale further away and then encountered another humpback. Everybody was able to get a really good view of this animal as it surfaced only a few meters away from the boat. Then it was time for us to say good-bye and drive back to Reykjavik. Another very nice whale watching tour on this beautiful May day.

- Barbara Neubarth

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: We were sailing out in beautiful weather today, the sky was blue and you could see the white mountain tops of Snæfellsnes peninsula glittering in the distance. The sea was calm and it was therefore easy to spot cetaceans. Soon we saw 3-5 harbour porpoises and a minke whale, but it were the large splashes about a kilometer away that caught our attention. When we were heading there it turned out to be at least two pods of white-beaked dolphins who were enthusiastically playing and jumping around. We counted 3-5 individuals in one pod and between 6-8 individuals in the other pod. They were really putting on a great show. After a while we left the dolphins to head out further into the bay to look for some bigger whales and soon we encountered a humpback whale. It came quite close to the boat and showed us it's fluke. That´s when we realized it was Picasso, a well-known humpback we had encountered since 2014 here in the bay. Then it was time for us to leave Picasso and head back to the harbour. What a blast on a sunny day.

- Barbara Neubarth

Bird species seen on todays tours include: northern gannet, northern fulmar, manx shearwater, arctic skua, lesser black-backed gull, common gull, black-headed gull, kittiwake, razorbill, common guillemot, puffin, arctic tern and eider duck.