SATURDAY, 3 JUNE 2017

Tour at 17.00

Report from Eldey: When we sailed out of Reykjaviks old harbour we had a quite a strong breeze and some slight rain. But our passengers were happy and warm in the overalls we provided and enjoyed the ride out. We went straight to the other whale watching boats which spotted a humpback whale to also allow our passengers a look at this giant beauty. On our way we saw 3 white-beaked dolphins which briefly popped up abut 50 m next to the boat. When we reached the area of the humpback whale, we spend some time waiting for the animal to surface. The captain managed twice to bring us very close so that most of our passengers had a good look at this individual, although it was quite challenging to follow this individual as it continued to surface only once at a time before going for a long dive of several minutes. But while we were waiting for our humpy we were pleased with two minke whales which showed up in the front and the back of the vessel.  After a while we decided to search the area for some more wildlife. It only took us a few minutes of sailing before we stopped right in front of a huge flock of feeding birds. And only after a little while watching the birds we saw a minke whale and a pod of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins feeding just underneath the birds. When we took off to go back to Reykjavik, two of the dolphins swam in front of us and repeadedly performed very high inverted breachings. Truly amazing to watch these acrobatics! On our way back home we even had a last short stop for the humpback whale, since we crossed the humpy's area again. All together a very good tour with truely Icelandig weather conditions!

- Nicole Koestner

Tour at 14.00

Report from Hafsúlan: the weather was great! The sea was very calm and the sun was even a bit out. As we left the harbour, we headed right in the direction of other whale watch boats where we found the humpback whale. It showed it fluke a view times and while watching the humpback a minke whale showed up, two whales at the same time! We went looking for other whale, it took us a bit of time but this way we could enjoy the sun and have a good look at all the birds flying around us. Just before we went on our way back we saw an other minke whale and even a 3-4 harbour porpoises came to take a look at the boat. After spending some time at the minke whale it was time to go back. On the why back we got to see one more minke whale. Overall it was a nice tour.

- Alexandra Bouman

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey:   It was a beautiful day on sailing out into the bay, the sun was out and the sea was calm. It really didn't take us very long to find cetaceans today, and what a tour we were in for! We first encountered 7-8 very playful and curious harbour porpoises which surfaced many times before going for a longer dive, but this was no matter as a minke whale the surfaced to our left hand side. Coming up a few times and allowing us to see its nose popping out of the water followed by its large black back and sickle shaped dorsal fin. This animal arched its back and went for a longer dive so we headed out further into the bay to see what else we could find. Another minke whale surfaced but was being quite elusive so we moved on and found ourselves a humpback whale. This animal surfaced a few times in the distance going for fairly long dives, and as there were a fair amount of boats surrounding it, it was decided we should go check out a pod of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins that had popped up a few hundred meters in front of us. The dolphins put on a truly wonderful show for us and began leaping, inverted breaching and playing around in the water. They came up so close to the boat you could follow them right under the waters surface! Truly incredible! There was even a mother and calf popping up in the surf. After getting a really wonderful look at these animals, we decided to have another look at the humpback now there were less boats in the area. On our way out more harbour porpoises were seen leaping out of the surf! Once closer we were able to see the humpbacks mighty heart shaped blow, its black back and even the fluke, which it raised many times into the air as it went for a longer dive. What a speciestastic tour! 

- Tess Hudson

Tour at 10:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Such a nice day to be outside on the water. With the sun shining on us and the water as smooth as a mirror, we had ideal conditions. And it seems like the whales and dolphins thought so too.Our first encounter was with a minke whale. Followed by another two. Even though that had already been exciting, we were all awestruck when suddenly everything happened at once! We spotted a very high blow far in the distance and knew it must be a humpback whale! And it sure was, showing it's fluke twice. It was at least 500m away from the boat but we still got a good look at it. Although we didn't know where to look! There were at least another 3 minke whales around us, harbour porpoises spread all throughout the area and to top it off, 4-6 white-beaked dolphins coming to the bow of the boat. It was super exciting for all of us on board!

- Sabrina Voswinkel

Tour at 9:00

Report from Eldey: What a start into this sunny day!! After reaching our main slighting area it took us not long to find our first minke whale. Together with 4-5 others (spotted in some distance) of the same species it was most probably feeding in the area as it changed directions often and we also saw many feeding seabirds as the Arctic Tern, Kittiwake, and Greater Black-Backed Gulls around us. When the captain stopped the propellers we also got some company of a group of 8-10 harbour porpoises popping up all around the front of our vessel. Later on we saw a group of 5 white-beaked dolphins. This small group was very relaxed and came very, very close to the boat swimming underneath and right in front of the boat. As the sea was super calm today, we were even able to follow these animals around under water as we could spot their white stripes on their back easily. Later we spotted another 2 minke whales in just 50m distance to us. What a great Icelandic summer day here in Faxafloi!!

- Nicole Koestner

Birds seen today: arctic tern, arctic skua, northern gannet, atlantic puffin, northern fulmar, black-backed gull, common gull, common guillemot, black guillemot, manx shearwater, black-legged kittiwake

We are sailing from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík today, with beautiful sunny weather and calm seas. For more information contact elding@elding.is or +354 519 5000