SATURDAY, 6 MAY 2017

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: Also our last tour today departed from Reykjavik. The sea was still very calm and we had a great view. The wind picked up compared to the other two tours of the day. Thus, we also got to enjoy a fresh breeze. We headed out to the area where we saw the dolphins in the afternoon to hopefully find the groups of dolphins again. But soon after we reached the area we saw a large black back in some distance which was much too big for a dolphin. It was a Minke Whale! So we changed direction and approached the area where we spotted the whale. It changed direction a couple of times and only surfaced for short sequences which made it difficult for all passengers to see this animal. But soon after we saw another Minke Whale on the other side. And this one made it easier for everyone to get a good look. Unfortunately, it went for a very long dive, so that we decided to sail further out to continue our search for other cetaceans. After sailing for a few minutes we were informed by a fishing boat that they saw two Mike Whales in another area. Getting prepared for another encounter with these amazing creatures we were surprised by other animals crossing our path: a group of 7-8 White-beaked Dolphins. Wow! They were very chilled and surfaced a couple of times very close to the vessel giving everyone the chance to watch and photograph them. Among the group there were at least two younger individuals and one of them showed us what amazing acrobats these dolphins are. It jumped out of the water twice only a few meters away from our ship. After enjoying these dolphins we still headed out to look for the other Minke Whales. And we were not disappointed. We saw one more surfacing twice before we had to turn back home. What a nice way to spend the evening: Great weather, nice view and the encounter with these beautiful animals...

- Nicole Koestner

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: We departure from the harbour with optimism and a full bag of hopes and wishes. Sun started to warm up the cold layer of air installed all over Faxafloi in form of fog and it slowly moved back. Sunny day, no wind, clear sky and calm sea was in front of us, so calm was the sea that it looked like a mirror itself! Therefore, conditions were excellent for whale watching. While we were amused by the weather and the beautiful scenery of the bay, we spotted our first pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins. They were swimming quietly and relaxed and we enjoyed for a while their appeased behavior. But we wanted more! So we sailed further and it didn't take long to sight another big group of white-beaked dolphins! This time it was a big group, known as a school of dolphins, formed by individuals of different ages. Some of them were jumping in the distance, swimming underneath us and traveling without any rush. Despite this fantastic encounter, we couldn't be satisfied enough and we forced our fortune seeking for whales and we were rewarded. We found out an area full of minke whale. There were 6-8 individuals feeding in the area and we were totally hallucinated with their breathing pattern and we were lucky to see them long time. But our fortune didn't finish there, we were blessed also with the presence of two small pods of the elusive harbour porpoise. Seabirds were extremely abundant and Atlantic puffins, northern gannets, kittiwakes, shearwaters and guillemots completed a wonderful afternoon for whale watching.

- Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: Our morning tour happened on the flattest sea that we have seen for months, but also unfortunately in the middle of a thick fog! The low visibility was definitely an obstacle on our spotting today but at least we enjoyed a warm and smooth cruise. As reward for our constant effort of searching in the mist, we caught a sight of a white-beaked dolphin and a harbour porpoise, but both encounters were short, too short for the sighting to be satisfactory. Thus we offered complimentary tickets to our passengers, but if this morning the fog played a cruel prank on us, the horizon was clearing up on our way back and we are hoping for the rest of the day to be brilliant. 

- Guillaume Calcagni 

Bird species seen on today's tour include: northern gannet, arctic skua, manx shearwater, atlantic puffin, common guillemot, northern fulmar, eider duck, black-legged kittiwake & great black-backed gull

Tour Status: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. The sea should be quite calm today but if you are sensitive to motion sickness we do provide seasickness tablets, free of charge! Hope you will be able to join us on our search for these magnificent animals in their natural environment.