Tour status: RUNNING
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: The wind picked up a bit as we headed out the harbour, and it was accompanied by light drizzle at the beginning of the tour. After just 30 minutes of sailing, we encountered our first pod of at least 7 white-beaked dolphins! They followed the boat very closely, bow riding and sometimes swimming underneath the boat and resurfacing very close to us. Just a few minutes later, we found another pod with jumping dolphins, performing elaborate acrobatics just by the window of the boat. It was an incredible sight to see! After we left the dolphins, we sailed for a little longer before finding 2 minke whales, that surfaced about 5 times each before arching their backs and going for deeper dives. Even though they may have been a little bit more difficult to spot for some of our passengers, we headed back to the harbour happy to have had such an incredible chance to see the dolphins!
-Anne Moullier
Tour at 14:00
Report from Eldey: Weather changing on an hourly basis in Iceland? Who could have known. The tour started with wonderful sunshine and excellent visibility and ended with entering low clouds and rain. Nevertheless, we managed to see two species of cetaceans in the bay. First we saw 6-7 lovely and hyperactive white beaked dolphins that seemed to be busy hunting fish. At the same time we saw our first of 4 minke whales we had on the tour. THese creatures were keeping a safe distance from us most of the time, but when they decided to come closer it was breathtaking. I imagine the people on board had a very good chance to make some marvelous photographs. Another cheerful day in the bay. :)
-Lucas Heinrich
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: The weather was really good when we left the harbour this afternoon. The sea vas calm and we had no white caps so spotting the whales should be easy. The first sighting of the tour was a pod of 4-6 white-beaked dolphins. They were curious about us and were sneaking around the boat, always popping up at different places around the boat. We left the dolphins to try and spot bigger cetaceans. We spotted some minke whales almost right after we left the dolphins. There seem to be two in the area, but they only surfaced maybe twice and then the went for a deeper dive. We got a few good look at them and they surfaced really close to the boat. We headed out further into the bay and spotted at least 2 minkes on our way back to harbour so a good end to our tour.
- Kolbrún Þóra Sverrisdóttir
Tour at 10.00
Report from Hafsúlan: We sailed out in good weather and could enjoy the beautiful view of the mountains around us. Later on the tour we found ourselves in a mix of mist and rain. This didn't affect the tour, as we early on had an encounter with 4-5 white beaked dolphins, approaching us. One of them swam close to the boat, and it was easy for everybody to see it swimming under the water. Later on the tour we saw a glimpse of a minke whale and we decided to stay in the area to get a better look of the whale. It really payed off, as we suddenly had 3 minke whales around us. On our way home we where lucky to see another pod of 3-4 white beaked dolphins, in an area with lots of birds. A tour with changeable weather conditions, but with great wildlife!
-Mia Rasmussen
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: It was raining a little bit on our morning tour, so it got a bit cold, but to our delight the swell was still weak, so once more we got an easy sailing and an easy spotting. The first find of the day was an incredible pod of 6-8 white-beaked dolphins! We love this species because they often reciprocate the curiosity we have toward them and it can end up in a close encounter, and this is what happened today! What made this sighting even more special was the flat and clear sea, and the presence of a juvenile. When with young individuals, dolphins can be cautious about the boats, but possibly this pod was able to recognize the sound made by our boat and were able to tell that we did not mean any harm. We enjoyed the dolphins for a while until we explored a bit further ahead, trying to find other animals. We did found 2 or 3 minke whales, but none of the animals allowed satisfactory sightings as they always were surfacing only once before disappearing into a deep dive. A bit disappointing but we have to respect that the encounters are on the term of the animals, and we did have a great time with the dolphins and an easy sailing. So we counted our blessings, and went back home with nice memories!
- Guillaume Calcagni
Bird species seen on today's tour include: northern fulmar, razorbill, black-legged kittiwake, common guillemot, northern gannet, Arctic tern, Atlantic puffin, eider duck, Arctic skua & lesser black-backed gull
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. Sea conditions are good and lets hope that the sun will shine on us. Hope you are able to join us on our search for these magnificent animals in their natural environment.
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