Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. The wind is coming from the northwest and is around 5m/s. There could be some movement on the boat out in the Faxabay.
Tour at 19:00
Report from Elding: The sea conditions was still good for whale watching and the sunset seemed to be promising as we sailed out in Faxafloi. We sailed along the coastline of Reykjavik and found strange movements in the water further away and when we got closer we saw big schools of mackerel. They were all over! Next to these schools the first minke whale showed up. It was not feeding alone on the fish, because it was soon accompined by more minke whales. In total we saw 4 minke whales on this tour, all swimming close to the mackerel. One was even lunge feeding! It was just incredible to both see the movements in the water made by the mackerel and hear the sound from it (it sounded like waves!), and at the same time see minke whales swimming all around in the light of the sunset. I was just enjoying every minute! After almost 1,5 hour we left the minke whales and the mackerel and headed a little bit further out in the bay hoping to see other species. A passenger spotted an animal in front of the boat but we couldn't really see which cetacean species it was, and it stayed too long at the surface. Then we realised it was a seal! Unfortunately it was too far away to be able to decide which seal species it was, but it was fun to see that the seal was also joining the mackerel party out in the bay. We also spotted a harbour porpoise, but it only came up one time so it was very elusive. Either how, the present of the big schools of mackerel and the minke whales in the sunset are one moments that will be hard to forget. What a beautiful evening tour!
- Johanna Bergman
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: We sailed out in good spotting conditions, the sea surface was pretty smooth and we had very good visibility. We sailed for a while before we spotted a lot of mackerel schools so we headed towards them. When we had passed a few of them we spotted a blow in the distance and it turned out to be a humpback whale and a pod of about 6-8 white-beaked dolphins. We also spotted another pod of white-beaked dolphins about 2 km away but the splashes from their leaping gave them away. Soon after we got to the humpback and the first pod of dolphins they all went for a deep dive and after a few minutes only the humpback whale resurfaced and we didn't see the dolphins again. We stayed with the humpback for a while but then decided to see if we could find any other cetaceans. We came across two very elusive minke whales but the third one was traveling slowly so we could stay with it until it was time to head back to the harbour. On our way back we saw yet another pod of about 5-7 white-beaked dolphins that were leaping and showing off and we saw some harbour porpoises as well. A very good four species tour!
- Bryndís Ösp
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: Calm sea and shinning skies in this afternoon tour. The sea was alive this time, with lots of individuals to be seen and beautiful shows to be witnesses of! Our first remarkable encounter was with a large pod of 10-12 white beaked dolphins, which were wondering from one place to the other, maybe just traveling whilst taking a few rays of light. Right after that, we sailed in the same direction of a minke whale, that accompanied us till we reached a humpback whale, swimming quite slowly out of the bay. We stood a while with the individual, till we decided to leave in order to see the second minke whale. But as soon as we did so, another pod of 6-7 white beaked dolphins reached the humpback whale and started to play with it! Although, judging on the behaviour of the animal (who deployed several rollings, flippers and tail slappings), it seemed that the little ones were completely annoying the whale!
- Alberto Alejandro
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: On this tour we headed again towards the direction of the humpback whale from the morning tour. When we arrived in that area we slowed down and soon spotted the blow of humpback whale "Daisy" that was still hanging around not too far from the same area. However, it was going for dives for almost 10 minutes in the beginning of the encounter. That was no problem at all, as two minke whales kept us entertained. One of them was particularly nice to us and came towards us until it was only 30 m away, then crossed our path and headed further out. That's when Daisy decided to come back to the surface. And not only did we see the humpback whale coming to the surface but it was rolling on the side and slapping one of its pectoral fins on the water surface again and again - wonderful to see. Just a couple of minutes later, a group of 5-6 white-beaked dolphins appeared in some distance and headed straight towards the humpback whale and swam around it and also played around the bow of our boat. They spent some time with us and Daisy and then raced off. After leaving the humpback whale we saw another two minke whales and also another pod of the white-beaked dolphins (6-8 individuals) before we had to make our way back to the harbour! Lots of wildlife in the Bay today making many people (and guides) very happy!
- Hanna Michel
Tour at 10:00
Report from Eldey: With a good spirit we sailed out of the harbour with a full boat of passengers on a sunny and quite calm sea. All were hoping to see the big animals out at sea. On our way out in the bay we saw one minke whale and one harbour porpoise. Unfortunately the harbour porpoise was were elusive but luckily we could stay with the minke whale for a couple of minutes. When it disappeared we moved closer to an area were a humpback whale had been spotted. We found it and stayed with this humpback whale for over 20 minutes. It had a perfect behaviour for whale watching. Surfacing 3-6 times before it went for a deeper dive just for a few minutes, and always showing its fluke! When adoring this beautiful animal another minke whale showed up very close to the boat, just a few meters away! It was great to have two big whales right next to the boat. The minke whale disappeared quite fast and when the humpback started to move further away from us, we decided to head back to Reykjavik. What a great start of the day out at sea!
- Johanna Bergman
Tour at 09:00
Report from Elding: The morning started off with surprisingly sunny weather, only a little bit of wind and not much movement on the boat. We sailed out with an almost full boat and many people stayed outside to enjoy the sun. After almost an hour of sailing we spotted a blow about 2 kilometers away and when we came there we greeted our friend from yesterday, the humpback whale ´Daisy´. We saw it surfacing only a few times before all of a sudden it almost jumped half way out of the water, lunge feeding. And the humpback even did it a second time to the delight of our passengers and their cameras. Afterwards we saw it surfacing only 5 meters away from the boat and could even see it turning around under the water surface, incredible! While watching the humpback we also saw a minke whale, but it turned out being quite elusive. Finally we left the humpback and took a drive around the bay where we encountered 2 pods of harbour porpoises, about 2-3 individuals each and briefly a small pod of white-beaked dolphins. Then it was time for us to head back to Reykjavik. What a great start into the morning with all 4 species.
- Barbara Neubarth
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.