SATURDAY, 20 AUGUST 2016

Tour at 19:00

Report from Elding: Epic closing tour for this 20th of August, we dashed westward after leaving the harbour in grey sky but reasonable wind and temperatures, and quickly encountered a minke whale. We could steal some glances but it disappeared after going for a deep dive, so we began to sail again without waiting too much. Eventually we found a huge flock of sea birds in a feeding frenzy. Intrigued, we decided to give it a try and when we finally joined them we found another minke whale feeding in the area. But then we saw something that instantly made us forget about this whale, we spotted a colossal blow further away. And there it was, a magnificent humpback whale, filling everybody's heart with excitement ! It was easy to follow this individual, and soon we noticed a purpose to its movements: it was aiming toward another flock of sea birds. We could predict a soon-to-come feeding event, and we were right as the humpback surfaced among the birds with an impressive lunge-feeding motion ! After having a snack there, it moved in the direction of a third group of feeding sea birds and again it threw its upper body out of the water with the mouth open wide to gulp on fish. Sadly, soon after that it was time to return to Reykjavik, we sailed back while enjoying the music of our on-board musician.

- Guillaume Calcagni

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: Within 20 minutes of our tour we spotted our first cetacean - 2 harbour porpoises! They surfaced briefly but it set us in good spirits for the rest of the tour. So we continued our travels further into Faxa bay where we came across huge splashes in the distance from a pod of white-beaked dolphins. As we drew closer the splashes lessened but at least 5 individuals were present. We got to stay with these animals for at around 25 minutes and watched as these animals dashed underneath the boat and just beneath the surface! We could quite clearly see there white stripes even below the waters surface and within metres of the boat! After a close encounter with these animals we decided to head further out into the bay where beneath a flock of birds we found a minke whale...and another...and another and another?! That made for 4 minke whales all within the same area! We had a great encounter with these animals with one surfacing within 50 m of the boat and giving us a good long glimpse of its dark back and sickle shaped dorsal fin. We were able to watch all four of these animals surface several times within minutes of each other. As we headed back into Reykjavik we were greeted once again by a pod of white-beaked dolphins who playfully leapt out of the water and kept us entertained for another great encounter! A thoroughly enjoyable tour!

- Darcy Philpott  

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: Sometimes you just know that a tour is going to be easy and satisfying, and our afternoon trip was one of these tours ! We had a summer weather, our previous trip had been plentiful, and when we left the harbour we already heard about nice cetaceans out there. Thus, we were light-hearted when searching for animals. Shortly after crossing the Akurey Island, we spotted a minke whale surfacing several time on the right side of the boat. We had nice looks but it quickly went for a deep dive, so we decided to leave it and settle for a better encounter. We joined others whale watching boats and met an incredible humpback whale ! This relaxed individual was taking numerous long but short deep dive, to the delight of all photographers on board. We had plenty of occasions to take amazing shots of its fluke. On multiple occasions it surfaced less than 50 m close to our boats without needing any effort from us. We were just stationary, and this whale seemed to be busy going for the fish beneath the surface to mind us. We stayed a long time with the humpback until we eventually decided to go look for something else. We traveled a little bit more until we found flocks of manx shearwaters and black-backed gulls, and with them was another minke whale. We could have better look at this species until it was time to end the tour. On our way home the wind was on our back, making the sailing quiet and relatively warm. 

- Guillaume Calcagni

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: Today it was lovely and sunny, the sea was wonderfully flat on sailing out into the bay. After only 15 minutes of sailing a humpback whale was spotted 100 meters in the distance. It surfaced a few times only 60 meters away, but it was going for 6 minute dives every so often so it was decided to head further out into the bay to search for some other animals. After only 5-10 minutes of sailing two minke whales surfaced one 100 meters away the other about 300 meters. We were able to watch these animals surface a few times before going for a longer dive. At this point þruma one of our rib boats radioed us to let us know about the humpback whale up ahead. Once closer a minke whale also surfaced just 80 meters away from us and came up in a lovely surface sequence.  The humpback whale then surfaced and we were able to watch this amazing animal surface numerous times all the way around the boat and often raising its great fluke or tail. After watching this incredible animal for some time we moved on and searched for some other animals. After only a short time we sighted 4 different minke whales at varying distances and were able to watch two of these surface fairly close. The sun was shining and the cool breeze sent us back to harbour. 

- Tess Hudson

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: We left the harbour under unusualy nice sea conditions and weather. The smooth surface of the sea allowed us to spot minke whales from a considerable distance. We followed one which was heading toward a flock of resting seabirds where it met a second individual. They traveled together for a short time while a third minke whale surfaced in the distance. We left them after they split up and ventured further out in the bay. We met another two minke whales and shortly after spotted several splashes in the distance. We went to investigate their origins and discovered a pod of four white-beaked dolphins. We followed the pod for a bit and then headed back towards Reykjavik. It didn't mean the tour was over as on our way back we also managed to spot a couple more minke whales and even two harbour porpoises!

- Rémi Bigonneau

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: our great conditions on the bay continued from yesterday. Our first sighting on the tour was after less than 20 minutes! We were only sailing past the Islands next to Reykjavik when we spotted a minke whale. We slowed down and stayed in the area until everyone should have had a good chance to see the minke whale. Then we decided to go further out to our main sighing areas, on our way we spotted few minke whales in a great distance. When we got to our main sighting areas we were surrounded with feeding sea birds, 2 pods of 4 white beaked dolphins, 7-8 minke whales. Some of the minkes were close to the boat and other far away. The conditions out on the bay were so fantastic that we could spot them more than a kilometer away! On our way back we spotted 2 pods of 4-5 harbour porpoises. The view over the city on the way back was also an extra treat and our passengers got few opportunity to get photos of minke whales with Reykjavik in the background.

-Sigurlaug Sigurðardóttir

Bird species seen on todays tours: atlantic puffin, northern gannet, kittiwake, lesser black backed gull, arctic skua, common guillemot, arctic tern, northern fulmar, sooty shearwater, manx shearwater & cormorant. 

Status: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik. It is a beautiful day and little to no wind