WEDNESDAY, 31 JANUARY 2018

Tour status: RUNNING 

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: Even before the tour had begun, there was a buzz with wildlife being sighted in the harbour as a northern bottlenose whale was witnessed swimming around our vessel for some time before being lost. We were on high alert for this animal as we left the harbour and were all hoping to catch a glimpse of this very rare sighting for us. As soon as we sailed out we sighted the blow of the whale very close to the shoreline. We watched as the whale swam along the coast, but this behaviour seemed very unusal, especially for a whale that is associated with deeper water. Sadly, the whale was observed stranding itself amongst the rocky shoreline and a response team was informed quickly. We left area as to not cause further disturbance and the last we heard the whale was successfully helped back in to the ocean. The trip continued on however, searching within our ususal location. In the distance we coud see a large group of gannets that were frequently diving towards the surface. As we approached many tiny fins of the harbour porpoise were seen in and around the area the gannets were feeding. The porpoises were great to watch, swimming extremely close to our vessel to within 10metres that fascinated the guests. After the first, sad encounter, it was amazing to witness the feeding frenzy taking place in the bay. Passengers left very happy with the tour and were informed about the success of the rescue service. 

- Mike Smith

Bird species seen on today's tour include: northern gannet, northern fulmar, great cormorant, kittiwake, iceland gull, common guillemot, eider duck

We will be sailing from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today at 1 pm. There will be some movement in the sea today, so if you are sensitive to sea sickness we do provide tablets for motion sickness both at our ticket office and on board. We hope you are able to join us today!