Tour at 20:30
Report from Hafsúlan: Definitely the best tour of the day! As soon as we reached the area where we got the best sightings on the previous tours today we spotted a blow far out. This turned out to be a very elusive humpback whale. We followed it for at least 30 minutes without ever seeing the body of the animal, only the powerful blows at great distance. Then suddenly the whale slowed down and a pod of white beaked dolphins showed up. There were at least 7 dolphins in the pod, including 2 small and adorable calves, and they started following the humpback whale around. Now it was much easier getting a good look at the humpback, we saw its fluke when it dived, the flippers when it rolled at the surface, and we could even hear it exhaling when it was close! It was so exciting to follow the two species traveling together that we decided to stay for longer on the bay although it meant we would be about 20 minutes late back to harbour. On our way back we enjoyed live music and the midnight sun.
-Sigurlaug Sigurðardóttir
Tour at 17:00
Report from Hafsúlan: When we left the harbor this time, we were curious and did not know what to expect, as conditions had changed many times during this day. After a few drops of light rain in the beginning of the tour, we had a rare sighting - the icelandic sun!! Wow! Again we had to go far south to see our first flocks of feeding birds. But then there were hundreds of them split in at least three big flocks. So, it was hard to decide where to go first. When we got the call from the other boat, telling us about a minke whale close by, we just turned their way. And we were not disappointed! After waiting for a few minutes watching the spectacular dives of some northern gannets and the noisy arctic terns, one minke whale surfaced less then 50 meters away from us. But it was not alone. Soon it got some company by another minke whale. Both whales surfaced a couple of times before going for a very long dive. Thus, we decided to follow a big blow we saw before. Together with another vessel we followed the blow which came up from the water surface three times. As we did not see the animal those times we were not 100% sure yet what kind of whale we could expect to see. But it turned out that our first guess was right, when we saw the very long black back of a humpback whale a few minutes later, slowly surfacing in some distance. Unfortunately, we were running out of time and had to return to the harbor. Thus, after watching two more blows we had to leave this animal behind. However, it was great to see these two big cetacean species on one tour and we were happy when we sailed home with the setting sun in our back.
- Nicole Koestner
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: The weather had decided to spit in our faces by the time we left the port for this afternoon´s trip, with little needles of rain droplets hitting us in the face. About an hour away from the port some black fins greeted us, it was a pod of 3 white-beaked dolphins! They seemed a little lazy and not very interested in sticking around so we looked around some more for another species. Just before returning to port we caught a couple of glimpses of a minke whale. Once again this animal wasn´t feeling very friendly despiting surfacing once very close to the boat, so we decided to offer complimentary tickets on our return.
-Rachel Pool
Tour at 13:00
Report from Hafsúlan: When we left the old harbor of Reykjavik, we were welcomed by a fresh breeze and some light rain. But soon after we left the shelter of the land, the wind picked up and the sky opened up, so that we got to see the blue sun. Although, the sea was relatively calm, it took us very long to spot some wildlife. But after about 1.5 h we reached an area which was full of birds. We checked out two flocks of diverse birds and did not see any whales. But at the third one we were surprised by the big splash of a surfacing minke whale popping up right underneath the birds. Watching this minke lunge feeding for about 15 minutes paid off for our long search. Thus, we went home with a smile on our faces, enjoying the fresh Icelandic air.
- Nicole Koestner
Tour at 10:00
Report from Hafsúlan: The morning welcomed us with a light rain and cover sky, but our expectations for today were great and we departure with all of the best moods. We were searching in our main spotting area in Faxafloi, trying to spot whales, dolphins and porpoises but we had an eye open for flocks of birds our best indicator of cetacean presence. We scanned the ocean and we got near the coast of Reykjanes in our search, but today the luck wasn´t with us all. For that reason, we offered complimentary tickets to our passenger so everybody can have a second chance to see the whales in our lovely bay. In the way back, we enjoyed a nice ride with the sun shinning, a rarity here in Iceland.
-Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan
Tour at 9:00
Report from Elding: the weather was nice, the conditions where good for spotting whales. Unforgettably we didn't have any luck. After sailing for a long time we saw one harbour porpoise traveling quickly past the boat. At the end we gave everybody a complementary ticket so they can come again for free with us, hopefully to have better luck.
- Alexandra Bouman
Birds seen today: common guillemot, eider ducks, atlantic puffins, northern gannets, phalaropes, arctic terns, arctic skuas, kittiwakes, northern fulmars, european storm pertrel, black-backed gulls and manx shearwaters.
Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. The sea conditions are fine as for now but the wind might be picking up a bit this morning. If you are sensitive to sea sickness, we do provide sea sickness tablets, free of charge! We hope you are able to join us on the search of these magnificent animals in their natural environment.
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