Sunday, 28 July 2013

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: This evening was very calm and conditions excellent for whale watching. At first our patience was tested as we began our search for the whales and we sailed for over an hour without any sightings. But as the mood began to drop we spotted a black back in the distance and rushed towards it. As we got closer we spotted it again and confirmed the sighting, a Minke whale!. This minke was calm and sirfaced many times close to us giving us a very good view of him. An excellent encounter in the extremely clam weather this evening. So after a very nice trip we headed back to Reykjavik while listening to the music and humor of Bjarni the magician.

-Ívar Elí Sveinsson

Tour at 17:00Report from Hafsúlan: The sea conditions were good when we headed out but it was raining a little bit, so most of us put on overalls which kept us warm. We didn't have to search for a long time until we spotted two Minke Whales further away, we saw one of them a couple of times but the other one seemed to have swam quickly away when we got there. But the Minke surfaced 2 times close to us and we could even hear it's blow. After the Minke swam away we headed further out and searched for a while until we saw something surface very far away. When we got there we found another Minke Whale and we could watch the animal for some time until we had to head back towards the harbour. Before we got back we stopped in Akurey, one of the Puffin Islands around Reykjavík and saw a few puffins. But unfortunately the Island wasn't crowded with birds, the birds could have been further out fishing for their youngs which have recently hatched. But all in all it was a good tour with a few Minke's, we just have to remember this is wild life and we cant control what the animals do or when they show up. - Freydís Ósk Hjörvarsdóttir

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: With weather much the same as this morning we headed out the fourth time today to try our luck with the cetaceans of Faxa bay. This time around we didn't have to wait long for our first encounter and soon we spotted a pod of White-beaked dolphins. These dolphins where quite social and came close to the boat travelling along about 20 metres from us and swimming just under the surface so you could make out their greyish white sides beneath the waves. After another boat arrived we left these dolphins to not crowd them with boats and decided to head further out and see if we could find some other cetaceans as well. Not long after that we came upon a flock of feeding birds and heading towards the birds was a Minke whale! We waited to see if would come up by the birds and it did so with a splash, bringing its head out of the water and slamming it down in the midst of the birds two times. Perhaps trying to stun the fish or simply listening to some very good heavy metal. After that fantastic encounter we were out of time and headed back towards Reykjavik and stopped by the Puffins at Akurey on our way to shore.

-Ívar Elí Sveinsson

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We decided to go again first to Akurey to see some nice Atlantic Puffins. Unfortunately they were all offshore fishing or in their burrows so we decided to head out in the bay. And there a whale party should expect us. The sea was flat like a mirror, we spotted White Beaked Dolphins and Minke Whales in the same area feeding in the middle of 3-4 large flocks of sea birds, it was fantastic. We spent the whole tour with these wonderful animals.

-Lisa Hofmann

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: This morning the weather was very good for whale watching with clam winds, calmer seas and excellent visibillity. We started the tour by visiting the puffins at Akurey but unfortunately not many were at home, most likley away hunting for food out at sea. Today we had to sail for about thirty minutes until we saw our first cetacean, a Minke whale! Although this whale did not seem very social, surfacing fast and constantly diving down for long periods. We decided to press on and before long found ourselves in an area where the fish finder showed a lot of food under the boat. There we spotted at least three minke whales as they surfaced all around us. They were quite calm and came very close to us, seemingly ignoring our presence as they were feeding. We stayed with them for the rest of the tour and then headed back to Reykjavik in the calm noon weather.

-Ívar Elí Sveinsson

Tour at 9:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The first stop today was Akurey, the Puffin Island. We saw many Puffins sitting on the water surface. After a while we headed out into the bay were we had to search not for a long time before we spotted a pod of White Beaked Dolphins, maybe 5 animals. They were very elusive and diving long periods so we decided to head further out. After a long time of searching we spotted a Minke Whale but this animal was also rather elusive and we had to be very patient to see it a few times, we saw another Minke in a distance but couldn´t spot it again. We met another pod of Dolphins and managed to see them close to the boat which was a nice ending of the tour!

-Lisa Hofmann