WEDNESDAY, 17 AUGUST 2016

Tour at 19:00

Report from Elding: It was raining heavily when we headed out so those of us who were brave enough to be outside were thankful for the overalls, they really kept us warm and dry. We decided to head straight for the area where they saw the humpback whale on the last tour but sadly we weren't able to find it but we saw a couple of very elusive harbour porpoises while looking for the humpback. We decided to search a bigger area and then spotted a minke whale but it only surfaced twice so not everyone got a chance to see it. The search continued until it was time to head back to the harbour but unfortunately we were unsuccessful in our search for more cetaceans. This is unpredictable wildlife so there are no guarantees but of course we are always disappointed when we see little or nothing. Even though we saw a couple of harbour porpoises and a minke whale they were mostly seen by the crew so not all passengers got to see them. Therefore we offered all of our passengers complimentary tickets which are valid for two years so they can come on another whale watching tour with us and hopefully we will have better luck next time!

- Bryndís Ösp

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: Sailing out for the third on our beloved boat Eldey today, we couldn't wait to get back to the humpback whales. Thanks to other boats we still knew in what area to look for them and headed in that direction. Alogn the way, we saw a few harbour porpoises again, probably around 4-5 animals in one group that was travelling next to us so that we actually got a nice look at this small cetacean species. Next species was a minke whale that surfaced a couple of hundred metres away where we saw it surfacing 4 times in a row before it went for a dive. We didn't spent more time with the minke whale since we had already seen the big blow of a humpback whale further away and just kept going in that direction. It was Mr. Sqaure again, a humpback whale we are very familiar with from previous tours over the last years! The amount of mackerel we saw in the Bay was still impressive and also Mr. Square seemed to be very happy about it and was doing something that can be best described as breach-feeding. It was coming up vertically with half its body and mouth open to feed on the massive mackerel schools. We spent a good amount of time with Mr. Square and then decided to move on to look for something else. We found another elusive minke whale and got a few looks at this individual before it disappeared. On our way back to the harbour, we stopped by Mr. Square another time to wave this humpback whale goodbye that made so many people happy today! We hope to see you many more times, Mr. Square! 

- Hanna Michel

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: What an amazing tour! We had changeable weather (dry-heavy rain-dry) but the visibility was very good and the sea was flat, making perfect spotting conditions. First cetacean we spotted was a minke whale. We saw it 150 meters from us, surfacing 3-4 times in a row, while traveling in opposite direction, so all the passengers had a nice good look at it. We didn't stopped to wait this individual to surface from deeper dive, as we've heard the playful dolphins are it the area close by, so we headed to check them out. It was a pod of 12-15 white-beaked dolphins. They were easily approachable and indeed very playful; bow riding, leaping and surfacing even just meter away all around our boat! They were so amusing and beautiful to watch. After awhile we left this nice pod and headed to the area where we saw a humpback whale on previous tour. As we were approaching the area we noticed the bay was full of big schools of mackerel, which we could easily see at the sea surface. This already started to make us excited thinking we might see some feeding action. Indeed, the encounter with this humpback was breath taking! This beautiful giant was chasing the mackerel together with a pod of 8-10 white beaked dolphins, lunge feeding, rolling a bit and surfacing very close to our boat (in few occasions less than 10 meters!). It was a humpback named Mr.Square, seen on our tour in previous years. We could all easily see it, smell it and even hear it's blow and trumpeting sound we made few times. While watching this humpback & dolphins, we saw another pod of 8-10 white-beaked dolphins and a bigger one (15+ individuals) in the distance, all feeding. We also spotted 3 minke whales in a distance. We were watching this impressive humpback and dolphins for some time, so we decided to try to find another minke whale, which we could see a bit closer. While searching for a minke whale, we came across a pod of 4-5 harbour porpoises. They were so unusually easy approachable we could even “follow“ with them for a while. As the sea was perfectly flat, and they were swimming pretty slow (one was even resting motionless at the surface!), we could see them really nicely. What a great chance we've got to see this tiny and, usually tricky to see and observe, species! Simply beautiful! When we left porpoises, we spotted another minke whale. We saw it surfacing3-4 times before going for a deeper dive, waited it to surface up again and then had a good look at it while surfacing 4 times in a row before it went on a deeper dive. It was a great timing to start heading back to the harbor. What a tour! It's been a gift to have such incredible encounters, and all in one tour! Absolutely amazing! 

-Tena Šarčević

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: The tour started out with a few technical problems as the microphone was not working very well. However, this did not set the tone for the rest of the tour. The sea was a perfect flat calm with little wind and a warm air. After sailing for only 25 minutes the beautiful white-beaked dolphins were spotted they surfaced multiple times all the way around the boat. The pod was about 7-8 dolphins strong and gave us a great look at them. As other boats started arriving to watch the dolphins it was decided to head out further into the bay to find some other animals. While sailing a pod of 2-3 harbour porpoises were spotted leading out of the surf. They came up a few times before disappearing under the oceans surface. Continuing into the bay some very large dark patches on the waters surface could be seen, once closer these were identified as schools of mackerel. There were numerous shoals as far as the eye could see, underneath and Inbetween the fish numerous cetaceans were surfacing. Including more harbour porpoises and 3-4 minke whales. However, a large splash was spotted in the distance, once a bit closer this animal was identified as the humpback whale. Which was performing the most incredible lunges it was coming straight up from underneath the shoals of fish and part leaping part lunging with its mouth wide open! I've never quite seen anything like it. We watched in awe as this majestic animal leaped, lunged and surfaced again and again. Its massive blow shooting up from the waters surface. This humpback whale was identified as an individual that has been sighted all around Iceland in the past few years including Husavik and Reykjavik. Called Mr Square due to its squared dorsal fin.  After an incredible sighting it was decided to move on and try to view some of the other amazing wildlife that surrounded us as many other whale watching boats had come over to see this whale. After sailing for only another 10 minutes a further 2 pods of harbour porpoises were seen and 2 minke whales were spotted. One of which we were able to view very well as it surfaced in a few surface sequences just 75 metres from the boat. Unfortunately as time was running out we started heading back to harbour but of course the whale watching didn't end there as an astonishing 3 further pods of 2-4 harbour porpoises were spotted. Not only this but as we approached the harbour buoy another 2 minke whales surface one 500 metres away and the other just 10 metres or so. Words cannot express how incredible this tour was, how rare the behaviours we were able to observe and the amount of animals surrounding us, just amazing!! 

- Tess Hudson

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: The sea surface was so calm and there was very little wind so we sailed out in very good spotting conditions. We had heard about a humpback whale close by (finally, the return of the humpback!) so we didn't waste any time and headed straight there but on the way we saw a harbour seal. The humpback whale was surfacing often and not diving for a long time so it was easy to follow and we could stay with it for a while. It was also showing off its beautiful fluke but it was fluking often. Then a minke whale popped up in the area so we could watch them both for a while. When we had enjoyed the company of the humpback for a while we decided to check out the minke whale. We soon found it and then we noticed four more minke whales as well so when one of them went for a deeper dive another one came up somewhere else. On our way back to the harbour we passed the humpback, yet another minke and about 10-12 harbour porpoises (as I mentioned, very good spotting conditions). A good tour with a humpback whale, 6 minke whales, about 10-12 harbour porpoises and even a harbour seal! 

- Bryndís Ösp

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: Considering the bad weather we had to deal with lately, the sea conditions on this morning's tour were just perfect; there was just a little bit of swell left making the boat rock. On our way out in the bay, we first saw a few harbour porpoises splashing around (2-3 individuals). Further out, we could see a few big blows in some distance in front of us and soon found a humpback whale after getting closer to that area. It seemed to be travelling as it was swimming rather quickly and kept a constant direction. However, suddenly it started lunge-feeding not far away from us; it was coming op fast with its mouth open engulfing a mouthful of water and fish. Then, it continued travelling and we decided to go look for something more and over the rest of the tour we encountered 3 minke whales that we got a really good look at, and there were even more in the greater area. The minke whales also decided to give us a nice time as they came up frequently showing themselves very well to us. One of them even came up just about 40 m away from us. On our way home we saw a few more harbour porpoises which was the ending of a beautiful tour with the return of the humpback whales in the Bay! Woho!

- Hanna Michel

Bird species seen on todays tour: arctic terns, northern fulmar, kittiwake, eider ducks, manx shearwater, atlantic puffin, common guillemot, lesser black-backed gulls & northern gannets.  

Status: RUNNING

Today we are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik. There is little wind coming from southeast and is about 5m/s