Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: We sailed out in high spirits from the previous success of the last two tours where we saw sightings from all four of our common species of cetaceans that we find most frequently in the bay here. After only 40 minutes of sailing we were greeted with very playful harbour porpoises who surfaced all around the boat and were even spotted leaping in the water - a very rare sight to behold! This was closely followed by a glimpse of the back of minke whale who then allowed us a closer inspection with 2 other surfaces before then going on a deeper dive. We were surrounded by another 2 individuals allowing us numerous opportunities to watch these animals surface and dive all around the boat. We decided to head deeper out into the bay where we were greeted once again by a minke whale! This animal was feeding under a large flock of birds including the majestic northern gannet. We took an arc around the bay and on our journey back we were greeted by a playful pod of white-beaked dolphins of around 8 individuals. They surfaced and jumped out of the water close to the boat for over ten minutes and even included a juvenile! A very pleasant journey for our last tour of the day.
- Darcy Philpott
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: When we sailed out this afternoon the conditions continued being the same as during our morning tour; a slightly overcast but warm day with a little bit of wind. Soon after a little bit of sailing, we spotted 3-5 harbour porpoises and our passengers could even see them leaping out of the water before we were heading further out. Then we saw a minke whale very close by and another one only a few hundred meters further away. However both marine mammals seemed to be quite shy and were a bit elusive so we decided to check out a pod of white-beaked dolphins which we heard about from another whale watching boat. Once we arrived at the described area, we saw a pod of 4-6 individuals and could stay with them for a while. They came really close to the boat and were diving and leaping all around us so that we could see their beautiful coloration and take great pictures. When the dolphins seemed like they were moving on we decided to follow their example and look for more wildlife in the bay. We saw two more minke whales surfacing a couple of times and when it was time for us to head home, one can say that a true harbour porpoise show started. Suddenly we were surrounded by 21+ individuals, leaping and porpoising in the distance and close by so that we could see them under the water. A great ending to a very nice afternoon out in Faxa bay.
- Barbara Neubarth
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: Similar to our earlier tours today we spotted harbour porpoiese after only a short sailing. It was hard to keep track of how many pods of porpoises were seen on the tour as they seemed to be everywhere! At least 30-40 porpoises were seen over the whole tour. After only 30 minutes sailing we spotted our second species of the tour, a minke whale! It was seen over 700 meters way so we decided to keep on going further out towards the areas where we have had great sightings the last few days. Soon we spotted another minke whale in the same direction as the first but this one was much closer so we went to have a look at it. While following the minke we spotted a humpback whale! This humpback was rather elusive and kept going for long dives but we still got close encounters and saw the fluke twice. We decided to travel further out on the bay and found 3 other minke whales. As soon as we started heading back to Reykjavik we got news from another boat about a pod of dolphins. Even though we were running out of time we took the desition to spend a short time with them even though that meant we would be about 10 minutes late back to land. This was a pod of 4 white beaked dolphins seemed to be milling in the same area for some time, making it easy for us to get a good look at them. It was surtainly great to be out on the bay today, absolutly perfect sea conditions and 4 species tour.
-Sigurlaug Sigurðardóttir
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: It was a slightly overcast but lovely warm day as we sailed out into the bay. After sailing for a short distance harbour porpoises were spotted, these normally shy and elusive animals swam and even leaped out of the water just meters from the boat!! It was amazing to watch these animals as they came closer and the water was so clear you could see them swimming under it! As we headed out further into the bay two minke whales were spotted, these animals surfaced multiple times and came wonderfully close. After watching these animals for quite some time a further two minke whales were spotted in the distance. After sailing towards these animals we were able to observe them coming up to the waters surface, one came so close you could see the white patches on its pectoral fins. More harbour porpoises were spotted leaping and porpoising out of the water. I was then informed that another whale watching boat had dolphins nearby. After sailing in that direction, a pod of 4-5 white-beaked dolphins were spotted and even began to leap out of the water multiple times! Some were even breaching and inverted leaping!! It was amazing to watch, they came so incredible close and even swam under the boat. It was then time to say goodbye to these animals as we turned to head for home a humpback was spotted fluking in the distance but as this animal was being very elusive and only surfacing once every 10-15 minutes we decided to begin the sail back. Where we spotted a further two minke whales and another pod of harbour porpoises. A very wildlife abundant tour!
- Tess Hudson
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: We set sail under a dry but cloudy sky for our first tour of the day. A slight wind was blowing from South-East, but nothing that could disheart our amazing crew and brave passengers. About 40 minutes after departure, we met our first 2 minke whales. We had quick looks at them as we decided to not stop for them, having seen a big blow in the distance. On our way toward this blow, we were stopped by an amazing pod of 8-10 harbour porpoises ! They were swimming all around the boat, checking on us, sometime slightly leaping out of the water ! For such shy animals, it was a glorious encounter ! After enjoying those cetaceans to the fullest, we began to move again in the search of the whale responsible for the tall blow we saw earlier. And we finally found a humpback whale ! This individual was quite tricky to follow, as it was taking lengthy deep-dives, but fortunately for us it was never surfacing far away from us. This allowed us to have very close view to its magnificent fluke. After another long deep dive, we decided to leave this humpback alone and to look for other species. From this point until the end of our trip, we were lucky enough to come across another minke whale that allowed us to come close, and another pod of 4-6 harbour porpoise. A very good beginning to this day, with perfect sea conditions !
- Guillaume Calcagni
Bird species seen to todays tours: kittiwake, lesser black-backed gulls, black-headed gull, northern fulmar, arctic tern, manx shearwater, northern gannet, common guillemot, black guillemot, atlantic puffin, razorbill, whooper swan, artic skua & eider duck.
Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. There is some mild winds from the south east, and some small waves out at sea. Hope you are able to join us to see these amazing giants in their natural environment
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