SATURDAY, 16 JULY 2016

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: The last tour of the day gave us a nice sunset on the horizon. Sailing the Bay was easy, with just a bit of wind and calm sea. Visibility was very good and the colors in Reykjavik city from the light of the sun made the landscape very beautiful. We could see at least 3 minke whales along the trip; one of them was a small individual, probably a juvenile. On the way back to the harbour while we were enjoying of the life music on board, a pod of 3 white beaked dolphins were swimming next to the boat. We could see a lot of puffins flying and resting on the sea, some of them very close by the boat and with the beak full of sand-eels. Good trip to end up the day.

- Alejandro García

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: We went out in such good sea conditions, the sea was so calm it was like a mirror! We hadn't been sailing for a long time when some passengers spotted some harbour porpoises, they were very elusive so we didn't stop for them but it was very well spotted by the passengers. After we had been sailing for some time we spotted a very small minke whale and it was quite the stinky minke. We smelled it a few times and it had a very pungent rotten fish smell so we were able to sniff it out and a few times we actually smelled it before we saw it. We were keeping an eye (and a nose) on the minke whale for some time but when we hadn't seen it for some time we decided to move on and soon we noticed another minke whale. It turned out there were three minke whales in the area and they kept surfacing all around so we decided to follow one at a time which worked quite well until it was time to head back to the harbour. A nice tour with some harbour porpoises and four minke whales.

- Bryndís Ösp

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: Encouraged by the beautiful experiences we lived in the previous tour on Elding, we faced this new one plenty of hopes and confidence, although obviously each tour is special and unique. The sea conditions were slightly worse, with a little bit more of wind shaking the sea and little bit less of light warming our sailing. Again, we spotted really soon a humpback whale -probably, again, the same one that we enjoyed in the previous tour. The animal was still really curious about the presence of the near boats, and once, it even showed us it's head full of tubercles, in what it seemed to be a full examination that the whale was conducting on us. We stood with the animal for quite a while, enjoying the opportunity to see it several times really close to our boat. We sailed away, and half an hour after this encountered we saw a minke whale, swimming between several flocks of feeding birds. The animal was probably feeding, as it kept changing it's direction in a totally random way. We left towards the surrounding areas of the lighthouse Grotta, in where a few minutes ago some other boats spotted another humpback whale. We didn't manage to find this big buddy, but instead we encountered the second minke whale and a tiny pod of 3-5 harbour porpoises, both species swimming really close for a while. Time was gone and we had to head to the old harbour, but in our brief travel back home we some a few more harbour porpoises, swimming solitary bordering the shore.

- Alberto Alejandro

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: The sea conditions and weather were still beautiful in the afternoon, and so we went out again looking for our beloved cetaceans. Heading straight towards the area of the humpback whale, we first encountered a minke whale on our way out in the Bay. We saw it twice but did not slow down in hope to see a minke whale later on the tour. A few minutes later we already saw the dark back of the humpback whale in some distance. Getting closer, we also saw its blows and the occasionally the fluke coming out of the water whenever it went for a deeper dive. When we were only about 100 m away from us, it suddenly jumped out of the water, completely unexpectedly! Some lucky ones even got pictures since this remained the only jump of the tour which made it even more special! We followed it for a while after that as it was traveling towards another area. Looking for more cetaceans, we moved on but were underway for quite a while, before we made a big circle in the Bay and finally came across 2 minke whales in an area. They were not hanging out together, just seen both in the same area, and one of them was a very small individual, definitely a juvenile. We managed to get some nice views on these animals before heading back to the harbour. On our way, we had a stopover at the humpback whale again that had traveled closer to shore, this time feeding underneath flocks of Artic terns. Every noe and then, we saw harbour porpoises, probably a total of around 6 animals on the tour.

- Hanna Michel

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: It's hard to remember a day which such a beautiful and perfect conditions for whale watching. The sea was simply tranquil and blissful, with not a single wave disturbing that quietness. And the sun, although the insistence of some mean clouds, was managing to bathe most of the Faxa bay. It didn't took a lot of time till we spotted the first wildlife of the tour, a humpback whale swimming really close to some of the rib boats that were on the area. The animal seem to be really curious about their presence, as it was gifting them with some smooth flipper slappings, and showing off the head. But it also approached us several times, no more far away than 15 m! We left this individual - just for a while, since it proved to be the star of the show just at the end of the tour - and we resumed our sailing towards open seas, where we managed there to spot a small pod of harbour porpoises and, a little bit further in the same direction, the first minke whale of the tour. This minke whale was quite shy, as it was continually changing the direction of it's swimming. Maybe it was feeding - judging on the big amount of birds that were in the area - or it was simply not in the mood of visitors, but in any case we received the message and we left the animal. We came across, then, with a medium sized pod of about 6-9 white beaked dolphins, and we followed them in their traveling for a few minutes, until the moment in which they disappear. But just to be replaced for a second minky that was, this time, really interested and curious about our presence! The animal stood with us for almost half an hour, swimming no more far than 30 m away and showing a lot it's head each time it was surfacing. Time was running out and we had to return to the harbour, but the best part was yet to come. Not only because the 2 more minkys that we saw, but because at the end, really close to the harbour, the same humpback that we saw at the beginning - we could easily recognize the beautiful pattern of pigmentation of it's fluke- was fluke slapping, again, really close to the rib boats. And as soon as we approached... the animal breached! It was only once, but still... it was a magnificent view of the whole body of the whale out of the water! A really beautiful farewell for a tour plenty of activity and emotions!

- Alberto Alejandro

Tour at 9:00

Report from Eldey: These are the days that you're more than happy to get up early and get on the water. There was no wind, sea was like a mirror with the multiple colours of the sky and clouds reflected of it. Not only was this probably the best weather day all summer but the wildlife was plentiful and enjoying the weather just as much as we were.  The first cetacean to tick of the list was a humpback whale, a small individual that surfaced often and brought up its beautiful fluke to get that ultimate picture. We enjoyed the humpback for a while but decided to leave it once the other whale watching boats came over so we wouldn't over crowd him/her. We then searched further offshore and found an area with lots of seabirds. The puffins were abundant and it was so cute to see them with fish in their colourful beaks. We also found two minke whales, they were also amazing to watch coming to the surface to breathe. The minke whales were a little more elusive than the humpback but graceful and elegant as they cut through the water. On the way home we also caught a glimpse of 3 harbour porpoises but they were gone so fast that most on board didn't get to see them. It was the perfect morning to be at sea. 

- Megan Whittaker

Bird species seen on today's tour include: kittiwake, arctic tern, atlantic puffin, common guillemot, greater black-backed gull, arctic skua, northern gannet, northern fulmar, black-headed gull, eider duck.

Status: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today on a gorgeous day. There could be some movement on the boat because of the wind yesterday but the sun is shining and little to no wind today. We hope to be able to see these wonderful animals in their natural environment.