Tour at 17.00
Report from Eldey: This evening tour was a great tour where we spotted all 4 of our commonly seen cetaceans here in Faxafloi. We started with a nice pod of 5-7 white-beaked dolphins. They surfaced a couple of times right in front of us so that everyone had the chance to take a few good pictures. But then we found out about a humpback whale which had been spotted further out in the bay. When we reached the area it took us quite a while to spot the humpback which seemed to be feeding on the fish close to the sea floor. So, even we saw a few big blows, the animal itself we could only see twice in some distance to the boat surfacing quickly before going for another long dive. But lucky us, this humpback was not the only cetacean around. Instead we got some close looks at a minke whale and also some harbour porpoises which surfaced a couple of times close to the vessel. So this tour was a very nice ending of a great adventurious whale watching day.
- Nicole Koestner
Tour at 14:00
Report from Hafsúlan: What a fluketastic tour! It was lovely and warm and the sea was beautifully flat. It didn´t take us long at all to find the cetaceans today. The first species we came across was the minke whale. This individual surfaced quickly a few hundred meters away to our port side, but up ahead another minke whale was lunge feeding under a flock of birds. Once closer we were able to see this animal plunging out of the waters surface and gorge itself on the abundance of fish, even catching sight of its fluke at times as it rolled (a rather rare thing to see). After watching this animal for some time a pod of 6 white-beaked dolphin were spotted up ahead. Once closer this pod surfaced wonderfully swimming from one side of the boat to the other. This pod consisted of four adults, a calf and a juvenile male who so fantastically breached and leaped and twisted round in the air for us many times. It was so incredible to watch! We even got to see this pod feeding for a time too. It was then decided to leave these dolphins as we didn´t want to disturb their feeding behaviour so we set off and found some wonderful harbour porpoises (8-10) who were surfacing in every direction possible! Just when we thought this day couldn´t get any better a humpback whale surfaced in front of us! And surfaced a few times before going for a longer dive. One the way back we spotted yet more minkes and even more harbour porpoises. What a speciestastic tour!
- Tess Hudson
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: This afternoon we had perfect weather for whale watching! The sea continued to be flat calm and there was still some sun warming our backs as we left the harbour despite the fact that it had gotten a little cloudier since the morning. Not too far after the lighthouse we saw a pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins. There was a calf with them that was very excitable and it continued to breach out of the water as the dolphins travelled away from us. Further out in the bay, we heard reports of whale sightings in the area and as we stopped we were surrounded by a countless number of harbour porpoises and 2 minke whales. At one point you could literally look in any direction and you´d see some species of cetacean, big or small. After staying with the minkes and porpoises for a while we moved towards a huge flock of frenzied seabirds, and as we watched, we saw a minke whale lunge at the surface! It was amazing! We stayed with the feeding minke until it was almost time to go, and then moved towards some splashes we saw in the distance. Once again it was the same pod of dolphins from before, with the juvenile dolphin breaching repeatedly with some pretty impressive acrobatic feats. As we waved goodbye to the breaching dolphins we were all beaming with happiness. What a fantastic trip!
-Rachel Pool
Tour at 10:00
Report from Hafsúlan: This was an experience so close to nature! The water surface was flat and we could spot far into the distance. Once we spotted our first minke whale, more and more could be seen all around in the area. We saw 7 in total in the first spot we stopped, feeding closely to the boat, even lifting their rostrum out of the water. Harbour porpoises were all around us as well, not shy at all! We enjoyed them for nearly half an hour, then decided to go look for more species. Sure enough, we encountered a group of 6 very friendly white-beaked dolphins, that constantly swam underneath the boat from one side to the other, seemingly enjoying all of us walking from right to left to see them. After another amazing half an hour, we turned back towards Reykjavík, only to spot another 3 minke whales feeding together underneath a big flock of birds. Everyone on board was quiet for a moment to hear the sound as the whales exhaled and the typical "cry" of the arctic terns around us. So close to nature.
- Sabrina Voswinkel
Tour at 9.00
Report from Eldey: After leaving the old harbour of Reykjavik we were welcomed by a sea as smooth as a mirror. After only 20 minutes of sailing we were surprised by 4 white-beaked dolphins silently crossing our path. It turned out that we were looking at two female dolphins with their little calves. When we stopped they stayed close to us for quite a while, with the little ones even checking out the bow of the vessel. After this amazing start we headed further out. It did not take us long to spot our first minke whale. This individual was rather small, so most probably still a young whale. Later on we spotted more grown up minke whales in the same area. Two of them surfaced a couple of times as close as 20 m to the boat giving everyone a great opportunity to take pictures and get an idea of the body size of these amazing giants. And while we were standing still enjoying the peaceful sea and keeping our eyes open for our minkes we also got to enjoy the cute harbour porpoises, the smallest cetaceans often seen in Faxafloi. They showed up all around the boat, sometimes even leaping out of the water, a behaviour we do not see so often with these shy animals. All together, definitely a tour to remember!
- Nicole Koestner
Bird species seen on todays tours: arctic tern, atlantic puffin, common guillemot, razorbill, manx shearwater, black-backed gull, common gull, kittiwake, northern fulmar, eider duck, arctic skua
Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. The sea conditions should be good today. Still for those sensitive to motion sickness we do provide seasickness tablets to take before the tour, free of charge! For any further information please contact our ticket office at elding@elding.is or by phone at +354 519 5000.
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