Tour at 19:00
Report from Elding: Dolphinitely the evening tour was a tour with one main actor, the dolphin! The evening seemed to be promising as far as the rest of the day had been full of surprises. So we ventured our boat for today, Elding, trying to spot any cetaceans in Faxafloi and indeed we did. As soon as we arrived to one of our main spotting areas we could see some splashes and there they were, two white-beaked dolphins traveling pretty fast. We thought that was all, but to our surprise these two individuals were speeding up because they were having a huge dolphin meeting in the area! We saw more than 10 of them coming towards us and they weren't´t only traveling, they were jumping out of the water and making a lot of acrobacies, it was a magical moment! We enjoyed their movements for more than half an hour and it was unbelievable how they were moving across the water. Later on we tried to sail further out but we couldn't´t find any more cetaceans. In the way back, we saw from the distance again our beloved and acrobatic dolphins and we had the pleasure to enjoy the live music from Bjarni. It was a great evening tour in the bay!
-Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: As at the previous tours today weather stay calm and we are not missing wind at all! This time we needed to sail a bit further in to the bay before we saw something. Our first minke whale was elusive and after few surfacing went for a long dive. Minke number two was more friendly and we had a chance to take nice look and take photos. A while later we found third minke which was again elusive but whale number four let us spend some time with. In between we saw more minkes in a distance but every time when we were coming closer whales disappeared. Seemed like solo minke tour. On the way back we had more luck to meet pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins.This animals was traveling fast and it was hard to get closer. Suddenly in the background we saw plenty of splashes. Another pod of dolphins in more fun and active mood showed up. Even if we were quite late we decided to take a look. More then 15 dolphins were swimming around us and under us. Looked like dolphin reunion when two different pods meet because some of them were further, some closer and moving in opposite directions. It was great end of a day!
- Ewa Malinowska
Tour at 14:00
Report from Hafsulan: For this tour, the conditions remained fantastic and the sea was really calm. The clouds also cleared up a bit throughout the trip and we got a little bit of sun later on. After reaching our main sighting area we spotted a minke whale swimming about. It popped up a couple of times, however this one was a little bit shy and it never got too close to the boat. Sailing on, we spotted some white-beaked dolphins, which was awesome! This was a pod of 5 individuals and we could stay for quite some time. They were swimming around our boat and gave us a little bit of a show, which was really cool. They swam underneath the boat as well, coming really close to the surface, letting us observe them through the water. We stayed with these guys for almost half an hour and after a while we decided to head on. We were still trying to find another minke whale, which we did find towards the end of the trip. Unfortunately, this individual also didn´t get too close to the boat, but everyone was able to spot it. Sailing back we spotted one more minke whale, although we didn´t have enough time to spend much time around it, so we continued to sail and returned to Reykjavik.
- Friedrich Rittner
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: The weather and sea conditions were just as fabulous as on the morning tour. It was a beautiful tour with many sightings. The first sighting was a pod of 8-9 white beaked dolphins, they were super active, leaping, breaching, tail slapping and head slapping! We got great looks at them when they surfaced right next to our boat! While watching the dolphins we saw minke whales in almost in all directions, the sea conditions were so good we could spot them at great distance. After a great time with the dolphins we decided to sail towards our closest minke whale. We got also great look at this animal when it traveled around us. Another minke had come closer so we followed that one as well. On the way back we saw two more pods of dolphins at a distance, maybe 10 in total, 3 other minke whales and a pod of 3-4 harbour porpoises. We look forward for going back out on the 17 o'clock tour.
-Sigurlaug Sigurdardottir
Tour at 10:00
Report from Hafsulan: Sea conditions couldn't´t have been better today! We had nice temperature, no wind at all and what it´s more important an overcast sky! Most of the passengers were dubious about that but a sky cover by clouds and no wind are the best conditions for whale watching because the surface of the water gain a light grey coloration which seemed to be like a mirror, perfect to spot cetaceans from far away. We almost didn´t have time to accommodate when we found our first species of the day just in the entry of Hvalfjörður. We had an extremely nice encounter with a pod of 5-7 white-beaked dolphins. At the beginning they were a little bit elusive and they were speeding up constantly, but just few minutes later they were swimming around us calm and relax, they seemed to enjoy our presence and sometimes it looked as if they were doing human-watching, incredible! After being amused by this beautiful animals, we sailed out into Faxafloi, looking more species and indeed we found them. There they were, two minke whale swimming together, probably mother and calf. We enjoyed their presence for more than 30 minutes, as long as they were milling which is a clear behaviour which indicates that the animals are resting. So we followed them for a while and we enjoyed these two individuals for the rest of the tour. Seabird activity were scarce today, but in the way back we were able to see some puffins, eider ducks and artic terns, which made trip even more awesome!
-Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan
Tour at 9:00
Report from Eldey: Amazing day for whale watching! We didn't have any wind, no waves or swell. Everything was perfectly still and flat. Nothing to disturb in looking for cetaceans. Only puffins can be confusing as they might look like small dorsal fins.
We didn't needed to go far to see animals. Minke whale was traveling slowly in the direction of Reykjavik when we came across it's path. We had nice sighting of this animal while it was surfacing, always snout first, then blowholes and dorsal fin at the end.
We let this one to continue his way, because a little bit further another minke was waiting with us. After spending good time with whales we went to look for dolphins. It was very easy because their big dorsal fins were easy to spot. We encountered pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins. Dolphins were playfully and take few dives under our boat. Leaving them to explore more before heading back, we saw two more bigger groups of dolphins. Looks like dolphins have a taste in mackerel, fish which we saw yesterday.
On the way back to the city we spotted two more minke whales but this individual were elusive and we couldn't wait long. Eldey came back from that tour full of very happy passengers and crew in good moods.
- Ewa Malinowska
Birds seen on today's tours: Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Black-legged Kittiwake, Common Guillemot, Arctic Skua, Eider duck, Arctic tern and Northern Fulmar.
Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. There is little wind but a bit cloudy. Hope you are able to join us on our search of these magnificent animals
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