Tour at 20:30Report from Elding: We started our tour in Akurey, one of the Puffin Islands and took a look at the home of the atlantic puffin, also known as the clown of the sea. It was very foggy as we headed out and the visibility was very bad so we realized we had to do our very best in the search for whales. although the visability was only around 70-80 meters we managed to see the smallest cetaceans we find here in faxaflói bay, the Harbour Porpoises which surfaced around 4 times but then they were gone. So we kept our search on, and we were just losing our hope when we spotted a Minke Whale that surfaced slowly and it swam around us for around 40 minutes, came up with it's nose first and very close to the boat so we got a beautiful look at it and could smell the wonderful breath which smells kind of like rotten fish and eggs! But that made it even more fun. Soon it was time to head back to Reykjavík and Bjarni the musician kept us entertained on our way back.It was a fun trip in a misterious weather and it made it even more fun that we had to work this hard to find an animal, because the Minke Whale didn't disappoint us at all. - Freydís Ósk HjörvarsdóttirTour at 17:00
Report from Hafsúlan: It got a bit cloudy when we started our 5 o'clock tour but luckily the sea was still completely flat. We started our tour by the Puffin colony, Lundey. There were not as many home as this morning but still enough to get a good look at them. After some sailing we spotted a pod of 3 White Beaked Dolphins, they were travelling very slowly so most likely not feeding. We had a nice time with them and they even swam under the boat and we could see their bodies under the water surface. After a little while we spotted a Minke Whale it was also travelling very slowly, we got a few close looks and decided to head on as we spotted another Minke Whale. We saw this one a few times but than it was time to head home. A very nice tour with some cheeky Fulmars.
-Lisa HofmannTour at: 14:00Report from Elding: The clouds had covered up the sky as we headed out but the sea was still calm and smooth so we started our tour in Lundey , one of the Puffin colonies around Reykjavík. After that we headed out and when we got to the area where we had been earlier today things seemed to have calmed down, there weren't as many birds feeding but still some. After some search we saw the first Minke Whale surfacing and we saw it for a couple of times around us. We headed further out where we found 2 more Minke's , probably a mother and a young that swam together and surfaced one at a time and very close to the boat a few times. further away there was another animal which we could watch when the others took a dive and later we could see that animal head towards a big group of feeding birds where it obviously was feeding and we could watch it while fed. It was a nice trip with the Minke's and it's always fun to see a youngster here in Faxaflói bay!- Freydís Ósk Hjörvarsdóttir
Tour at 13:00
Report from Hafsúlan: We started our tour by visiting Lundey the Puffin colony and there were loads of Puffins, just like this morning. It was lovely, they flew around the boat some of them very close. It took us maybe 30 minutes sailing before we spotted the first Minke Whale and a pod of White Beaked Dolphins right next to the Minke. We got a good look at both of them and found another 3 Minkes when we headed a bit further out. We followed one of the Minkes, it was very easy going coming up a few times right next to us. It was a very nice tour in perfect sea conditions.
-Lisa Hofmann
Tour at 10:00Report from Elding: We sailed out in beautiful summer weather and went straight to Akurey, one of the Puffin Islands, we did see some puffins but they weren't that many, it could be that most of them were out hunting because the chicks are hatching and they need to be fed, so we hoped that we could see more of them further out. When we came to the area where we have been seeing many animals we could see there was a lot of birds there, many feeding, some just sitting on the ocean. Soon we saw a Minke Whale surfacing and we noticed more around us so we watched them very calmly until we saw splashes further away and decided to try our luck and headed towards them. There we found a pod of 8-10 White-beaked Dolphins that were moving very fast but we got a nice look at them while we could see Minke's surfacing further away from us. After the dolphins swam away the Minke's came closer and 2 of them surfaced only 10 meters away from the boat so we could hear their blow. There was so much fish in the area that at one point we could see thousunds of sandeels under and around the boat and the Minke's hunting around us while the Dolphins moved quickly behind the boat further away. It was a gorgeus trip with around 10-12 Minke Whales and the White-beaked dolphins.. also we couldn't have asked for a better weather!-Freydís Ósk Hjörvarsdóttir
Tour at 9:00
Report from Hafsúlan: This morning was another sunny morning in Reykjavík and we started happily by going to Lundey, the Puffin Island. There were thousands of Puffins flying around it was amazing. But this was just the beginning. When we headed out into the bay it took us 30 minutes of sailing before we spotted several Minke Whales in the same area all busy feeding in between hundreds of sea birds. We just spent the whole time with the Minkes all around us, it was stunning. On the way back we encountered a pod of White Beaked Dolphins that were swimming quite fast but than they decided to come to us and swam under the boat. This was a surplus ending of this tour!
-Lisa HofmannBirds seen on todays tours include: Fulmars, Black-backed Gulls, Common Guillemots, Norhtern Gannets, Kittiwakes, Eider-ducks, Great Skuas, Arctic Terns, Razorbills and Atlantic Puffins