Monday, 12 August 2013

Tour at 17.00

Report from Hafsúlan:We were a little  bit worried about this tour considering our 1400 tour didn´t see anything but we kept positive and and did our best which really paid off because this was the best tour of all today. After stopping at the puffin island on the way out we decided to try a new area of the bay. This was a great decision because we found an area with many birds and at least 3 Minke Whales. The Minkes all surfaced once quite close to each other and gannet dived around them. We even turned off our engines to enjoy the sounds of the birds and whales as they exhaled. 3-5 Harbour Porpoises also popped up here and there just a couple of meters from us. The Last Minke Whale was teh best though, as were were about to head back to the harbour a small Minke Whale, maybe only 5-7 meters long surfaced just 5 meters infront of the boat. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day. I hope tomorrow brings the same.

-Megan Whittaker

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The summer weather treated us well today and we started the tour in Engey, one of the puffin islands close to Reykjavík. As we got to the area we were earlier today we noticed that the birds life was less and our fish detector showed little fish in the area. we searched for a long time with out any sighting accept from 2 pods of Harbour Porpoises which are quite elusive, but the second pod was playful and curious and came straight up to the boat and we could see them very well, one of them even rolled in the ocean surface, beautiful tiny animals! But unfortunatly that was our only sighting in this tour, so we gave all of our passengers complementary tickets which makes  them able to come with us on another tour for free in the next two years, they will also get 15% discount at our restaurant MAR (www.marrestaurant.is) and at our souvenier shop in our whale museum fífill. We hoped that we will see them all again and that they will have better luck! This only shows how fast wild life can change and how unpredictable it is.- Freydís Ósk Hjörvarsdóttir

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The wind had picked up a little on this tour but the sun was on full strength to counteract it. We sailed out, passing Engey to see the puffins on the way, and had an even better tour than the morning. Seeing two Minke Whales this time including Square, 2-3 Harbour Porpoises and a pod of 7-9 White-beaked Dolphins. The Minkes were the highlight of the show though, especially the one we encountered near the end of the tour that was feeding under a flock of seabirds, you could see it rolling and feeding just under the waters surface. Check out the pictures below :)

-Megan Whittaker

Tour at 10:00Report from Elding: We headed out in beautiful weather, the sun was shining and the ocean was calm. We started the tour in Engey, one of the Puffins islands here around Reykjavík were we met the puffins. It it the end of the puffin season so there aren't as many as in the beginning of summer but we got a good look at them! As we got to the area we saw our first Minke Whale that was hunting, there were at least 3 animals in the area and we got a great look at them as they surfaced very close to the boat. As we were watching them we could see some Harbour Porpoises surfacing quickly.It was a fun tour in gorgeus weather, maybe the summer has finally arrived in Iceland!- Freydís Ósk Hjörvarsdóttir

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It was a very beautiful morning to out on the waterwith the sun shining and the mist rising off the mountains. It was going to be a great day. We sailed out to the same area as the previous days and soon found some life. We saw one Minke Whale that looked very familiar to us and we thought it to be Square, a minke whale with a little sqaure notch taken out the back of the dorsal fin, we first identified Square in 2009. We also had a quick glance at a small pod of 2-3 White-beaked Dolphins but they only showed up a couple of times. The birdlife was also fantastic on this tour with gannets, fulmars, puffins and much more. Wonderful morning.

-Megan Whittaker

Birds seen on today's tour: Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Arctic Tern, Fulmar, Kittiwakes, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Cormorants, Eider Ducks, Common Guillemots, Manx Shearwaters, Razorbills.