Status: Running
We are sailing out from the old harbor in Reykjavik today! The wind is quite calm today and the conditions at sea are great. We hope you are able to join us to see these amazing giants in they're natural habitat .
Tour at 20:30
Report from Elding: It had been a spectaculair day already so we were pretty excited to go out and see what this tour had in store for us. We were not disappointed, the first encounter we had was with 2 harbour porpoises unfortunately they were quite elusive so we only saw them surface twice. But we knew there would be humpback whales in the area so we travelled towards the area they were seen before and on our way we saw some large splashes wich turned out to be a pod of 4 Atlantic white beaked dolphins porpoising and jumping. We travelled further towards the humpback whale, first the animal was just travelling slowly, coming up for air often close to the boat but then the show started. The animal started lunge feeding, we could see the bubbles and water movement caused by the small fish coming to the surface before the animal came out of the water with its mouth open wide. The animal did this many times in a row and once so close to the bow that its mouth almost touched some of our passengers standing there! While watching this incredible show we were also able to see 2 other humpbacks whales in the distance and a group of around 10 white beaked dolphins. Ofcourse the birds did not want to miss out on this fish fest and we saw lots of puffins, gannets, fulmers and artic terns around catching fish very close to the whale.
What an incredible tour!
-Anouk
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: With a fantastic day of sightings already it was hard to believe that anything could top todays success....but somehow it did! We travelled out into the bay and within 15 minutes we had our first marine mammal at 12 o'clock - the harbour porpoise! We got to see this shy animal surface a couple of times before disappearing from our sights. With eager spirits from already spotting a marine mammal so early on in our tour we excitedly scanned the horizon for blows and backs of marine mammals. It was not long to wait when the dark back of a minke whale surfaced within 200 m of the boat. We watched this animal surface 3 times before then going on a deeper dive. We left this animal fairly soon as we knew that the Humpback whales were slightly further out into the bay and we were eager to get there as soon as we could! And our hopes were greeted fairly promptly with the dark back of humpback whale! We recognised this individual from earlier on in the week - with an odd dive display with an almost sideways swish of the tai fluke as it went for a deeper dive. We watched this animal surface and dive a few times but heard word from our other boats that even more humpback whales were abundant further ahead. The further we headed out the more excited we got...we spotted not one but two blows simultaneously with each other at around 2 km away. It looked like two humpback whales were on the horizon! As we got closer we could see splashes and large flocks of birds ( a sure indicator that lots of food was about!) As we came across the first humpback whale we saw that this animal was displaying some exciting behaviour - Lunge Feeding! The huge mass of this animals head came straight out of the water as it engulfed large quantities of water and food with its baleen plates clearly on show! As we headed to a stop this animal came within 20 m of the boat as it again and again rose its large head out of the water and bared its baleen plates at us...what a spectacular show!! We could even follow the fish as they scattered across the waters surface moving at high speed alerting us to the next lunge of movement from the humpback whales. If not enough another humpback only 300 m away was displaying similar behaviour - so we turned around to check this guy out also... we were completely spoilt for choice! As we watched this animal also embark upon the lunge feeding behaviour we witnessed another blow on the horizon - another humpback! We were once again at loss as to were to look when the splashes of a boisterous white-beaked dolphin appeared. This animal took huge leaps and spins out of the water crashing its body against the waves - definitely not wanting to be missed out of the show! With at least 4 humpback whales in front and behind us and with white-beaked dolphins to our left we were all looking around the boat in every direction. These animals put on an incredible display and both crew and passengers were left awe-struck at these magnificent animals behaviour. Even on our travel back towards Reykjavik we were greeted with another minke whale on what was truly one of the highlights of the summer - an incredible tour!
- Darcy Philpott
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: It was overcast but dry as we headed out of the harbour. The sea was mirror-like providing us with excellent sighting conditions. After sailing for about 30 minutes we had our first encounter with 7-10 white-beaked dolphins. They were milling about in two separate groups initially then came together showing an interest in the boat by swimming towards the bow. It was wonderful to be able to see their white beaks and distinctive coloration just under the surface of the water. The whole pod then started swimming away and began leaping out of the water, landing on their sides creating huge splashes. They were likely communicating with each other. This continued for a few minutes before they stopped and four individuals began swimming back towards the boat then resumed milling about. Shortly after we moved on in search of other cetaceans. It was not long before we came across the largest of the frequently sighted species, the humpback whale. We watched it as it surfaced to breathe a few times before diving when it revealed its flukes. After watching this surfacing/diving sequence a few times, a second more active humpback appeared in the distance so we made our way towards it. To our delight this second humpback was actively feeding, lunging to the surface with its mouth wide open enabling us to see its baleen plates and expanded throat pleats. Absolutely incredible to see. This whale continued to thrill us for sometime as it continued to feed until it was time for us to head back to the harbour. What an experience!
- Julia Benson
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: We left the rain behind us in Reykjavik as we headed out into the bay for this afternoons tour. We had perfect whale watching conditions with mirror-like conditions out at sea. After less than 25 minutes we had our first sighting with the dark back of the minke whale! We watched this animal surface and dive with its snout first dive technique and the arch of its back as it went for a deeper dive. We were able to watch at least a further 3 of these minke whales as we headed further out into the bay - we seemed to be surrounded by these animals! We restlessly looked for the blow of the humpback whale as we headed further out and were soon greeted with the sight we were most eager to see - a 2-3 m blow on the horizon! As we edged ever closer to this individual we were greeted along the way with the small dark backs of two harbour porpoises popping up along the surface. We finally saw the dark mass of the humpbacks back as we watched it surface and dive within 200 m of the boat. Joining in on the action were the dorsal fins of a pod of white-beaked dolphins with over 15 animals present. A juvenile could even be spotted side-by-side with the mother and we got to see the flashes of their white-striped backs as these animal surfaced all around the boat. We were able to stay with the humpback whale for over 30 minutes as we watched it frequently surface and dive appreciating this majestic giant as the sound of its large blows resonated all around the boat. As if not enough to keep us all entertained the humpback decided to put out all the stops - and breached!!!! Not once but on four separate occasions resulting in squeals of delight from yours truly as we watched this animal lift its whole body out of the water and throw itself with full force at the waters surface. An incredible sight to behold!
- Darcy Philpott
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: We sailed out with an overcast sky and some light rain today. The water however was smooth like a mirror so excellent conditions for whale watching. After half an hour sailing we spotted a group of 5 harbour porpoises. Normally these animals are quite shy but these came close to the boat and everyone was able see them while they were porpoising. We heard that there was a humpback whale not far from us and we decided to check it out but on the way there we spotted a group of 6 white beaked dolphins and another humpback whale in the distance. A difficult decision to choose which animals to go to for a closer look. We decided to travel further to the humpback whale. The individual was quite relaxed and seemed to be resting, after watching it surface for a few times we decided to move to another humpback whale in the area. This animal put up quite a show for us, making bubble nets, spyhopping and rolling to its side. Apparently the animal got a bit tired of all this showing off and decided to take a bit of a 'nap'. It was laying still at the surface for about ten minutes before it sprung back into action. It almost seemed to do a bit of a wake up stretch, arching its back so that both its face and fluke were out of the water. We had to leave the animal to travel back towards Reykjavik but on the way back we had a number of nice encounters such as two white beaked dolphins travelling side by side and several more pods of harbour porpoises and in the end a minke whale! What an incredible tour with so much wildlife in the bay!
-Anouk
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: Another wonderful day in Faxafloi, with almost crystal clear waters, a refreshing shy rain, and plenty of inhabitants underneath the waters of the bay. Just 30 minutes after our departure, the show started with a tiny protagonist: the harbour porpoises. We encountered about 6 of this species of cetaceans traveling alone or in pairs, but as usual quite elusive and sneaky. But just a few minutes after that, we saw the first of several humpback whales. The individual was lunge feeding, so we where able to see it with the mouth wide open and full of fishes. As soon as we approached, we noticed the presence of other 3-4 humpys on the area, and that number was increasing as the minutes were passing by. At the end of this tour, we saw in total more than 10 of different individuals, although we only had time to take a close look to 5 of them. One of this whales actually breached for 3 times, leaving an impressive memory in the mind of our passengers! We managed to see also a traveling minke whale, and a pod of 7-9 white beaked dolphins. They seemed to be equally happy for the amount of food in the bay today, since they were jumping and leaping for several minutes, captivating even more everybody on the boat. A magnificent way to start the morning!
- Alberto Alejandro
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
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