Tour at 20:30
Report from Elding II: It was the perfect midnight tour condition tonight. We sailed out in a bright blue sky to visit Akurey, the Puffin Island first. There were a few Puffins visible so we stayed a few minutes before we headed out into the bay. It took us a long time of sailing before we spotted two Minke Whales right in front of us. These Minkes were amazing, very relaxed and easy going. They surfaced around us and in the orange glare of the midnight sun which painted Snæfellsjökull in red colours. On the way back we had the full moon on the right side and the midnight sun set on the left side. It was an epic evening!
-Lisa Hofmann
Tour at 17:00
Report from Hafsúlan: We headed out to sea and the sea was very calm along with the weather. We stopped by Akurey (Puffin Island) on our way out and were able to sew some little Puffins flying around. We started towards the area that we had been seeing the minke whales this morning and the sun was in front of us the entire way out. We got to the area and began our watch and sure enough we spotted out first Minke Whale. It wasn't long before this individual surprised us and surfaced right in front of the boat. We continued to watch this whale until we decided to head onwards towards more action. We spotted another minke about 200 meters away and slowly were able to see it surface a few times before going for a deep dive. We then saw a few more minke whales ( there were most likely 3-5 different minkes). Before we headed home we were lucky enough to spot one last minke headed straight for our boat. He surfaced three times to the right of our boat and once right next to it along the entire boat to see its large back and body. It then swam under our boat and came out on the other side. It was a great way to end up our sunny evening tour.
-Taylor Theódór
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: We decided to head straight out into the sunny bay, fortunately the fog had lifted and we had a clearer view over Faxa Bay. After 30 minutes we met a pod of White Beaked Dolphins but the group was rather scattered so it wasn´t that easy to follow them. Still we had 2-3 very playful Dolphins in front of us that even jumped 2 or 3 times. We headed on to see if there were more animals around and in the same second we spotted a Minke Whale next to us. It was a bit difficult as it was diving for very long and than changing directions but we managed to get a few close looks at this individual and left happily for the Puffin Island. Again not that many birds on Akurey, the Puffin Island probably because they were offshore fishing or in their borrows.
-Lisa Hofmann
Tour at 13:00:
Report from Hafsúlan: The fog had lifted since this morning. We decided to head straight out to the area where we saw the Minkes in the morning. As soon as we got to that area a Minke Whale popped up. We followed it for a while, seeing it surface many times, one time close to the boat. But as it was being rather elusive we decided to continue our search in the bay. We saw some splashes in the distance which seemed to be from a jumping White-beaked Dolphin. As we got closer it stopped jumping but we watched three Dolphins for a while. On our way back we stopped by Akurey, there were not to many puffins to see, maybe they were in their burrows our out at sea.
-Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: It was a misty monday when we sailed out into Faxa Bay but luckily the bay was very calm. We sailed for about 30 minutes when we spotted a pod of White Beaked Dolphins in front of us. It was a large pod, around 15 animals and they seemed to have fun with our boat. They swam under the boat so we could get an excellent look at their beautiful white patches on their bodies. After some minutes we found another pod of Dolphins feeding right under a flock of Northern Gannets. What a nice start of the day! There were not so many Puffins on the Puffin Island but we got a good look at them offshore.
-Lisa Hofmann
Tour at 9:00
Report from Hafsúlan: It was very foggy this morning when we headed out. We started in Akurey to take a look at the adorable puffins. As we headed out the fog was rather thick but we still spotted a Minke whale after 40 minutes or so. We followed it for a while and saw another one close to it. It surfaced very close to the boat a few times. We decided to keep on searching for something more and shortly we encountered a pod of about 15 White-beaked Dolphins. One of them jumped out of the water and showed its whole body. They were travelling very fast so we didn't stay with them for long and started heading back. On our way back we even saw another Minke Whale but since we were running out of time we didn't stop for long.
-Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir