Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: It was rather nice heading out into the bay this evening, wind was not so bad on the way but a lot windier on the back in 10m/s winds from the southeast. most enjoyed the warm inside saloon where as the more determined passengers stayed outside with me. It wasn't long until we found our first minke whale, actually very close to land, just north of the lighthouse Grótta. After watching the minke whale surface a few times we noticed that there were two individuals but they soon disappeared into the the severe glare of the sun. We traveled offshore to some of our favourite spots but saw nothing until we headed back towards land when once again a large pod of white-beaked dolphins (10-15 dolphins adults and idi baby ones), it was amazing, all the baby dolphins (calves being the correct term) were leaping, tail slapping, head slapping like they were training and their mothers were teaching them. We were able to stay with them for a long time but had to leave eventually. On the way to port the scenery and the light got more breath-taking, rainbows arched the dark colourful clouds and the light was incredible shining on the lighthouse. We found another minke whale under the rainbow and the blow was visible and once again came up a few more times before the sun went down under the clouds and everything went dark again.
- Megan Whittaker
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: Strong winds and cloudy sky made this trip chilly, challenging our passengers that didn't falter. We were rewarded by quite a show from a pod of 7-10 white-beaked dolphins ! At first they were elusive and difficult to follow, but after some patience they finally got into a more interactive mood and 3 of them started to leap out of the water ! It was even more impressive since on multiple occasions they jumped synchronically, so we were blessed to see 3 crazy dolphins up in the air ! We suspect that this frenzy was due to a mating behaviour, as some of those dolphins were surfacing and rotating together. To add up to the joy of this encounter, there was at least 3 cute calves among this pod. While following those cetaceans, we had a couple of glimpses of an evasive minke whale, but after going for a deep dive it never surfaced in our vicinity. We then headed further away and were alerted by some water splashes caused by another dolphin jumping out of the water ! While sighting this energetic individual, we spotted another minke whale, but it was not more cooperative than the first one. So no luck with the minkes on this tour, quite scarce and extremely elusive, but the dolphins made up for it with their acrobatic behaviour ! The way back to Reykjavik was quite harsh as we were facing the wind, but globally the sailing was smooth.
- Guillaume Calcagni
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: The winds were strong (5-9 m/s from the South East) and the skies were cloudy. However, spotting conditions were great, the slate grey whales and dolphins were east to pic out from the light grey sea. It was first a pod of white-beaked dolphins that were first encountered, a pod of 6-8 individuals. It was a really treat to watch them and even more so that we were able to recognise two individuals 'sophie' (1st catlogued in 2013) and 'funny' (1st catalogued in 2007) it is always great to see our dolphin buddies. We left after a while and as we traveled further into the bay and once I started my whaling speech a minke whale popped up. We were able to see it 3-4 times but most passengers didn't see it unfortunately. It was a long time before seeing another pod of white-beaked dolphins (4-6 individuals) and they were doing everything they can to get our attention, jumping so high up in the air and landing with a big splash. They carried on like this for a while, watching gannets swooping past too. A challenging but nice morning with or dolphin friends.
- Megan Whittaker
Bird species seen on today's tour: northern gannet, eider duck, northern fulmar, lesser black-backed gull, common guillemot, skua, cormorant, iceland gulls, & razorbill
Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik on a beautiful but cloudy day. There is little to no wind but there can be movement on the boat out on Faxa Bay
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