Thursday, 6 June 2013

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We sailed out from Reykjavik harbour in beautifully calm seas and the suns rays shining through the clouds. We started at Akurey and were not disappointed about all the puffins that were sitting on the waters surfaces and on the island. We then headed offshore and it wasn´t long before we found a Minke Whale and one in the distance. We sayed with the closest for a while and enjoyed its company as it surfaced with no signs on discomfort with our presence. We sailed around for a while and saw a couple more Minke Whales but it was until a bit later when we found ourself in the middle of a feeding frenzy with Gannets and Minke Whales. At one point we must have had about 4-6 Minkes surfacing around us and Gannets plunging everywhere. Wonderful evening tour.

-Megan Whittaker

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: This tour started even better than the morning tour, in a beautiful sunny surrounding. Again we first headed to Lundey, the Puffin Island to vistit the wonderful atlantic puffins. There were a lot of birds flying around some of them very close to the boat but we saw even more later offshore. As we stopped at the island, 2-3 Harbour Porpoises just surfaced right in front of the boat, what a surprise so close to Lundey. They didn´t show up again so we headed further out to the area where we spotted the Minke Whales earlier. We were sailing quite some time as we spotted a Minke Whale, it surfaced 2-3 times right in front of the boat but disappeared afterwards so we went on until we spotted a big flock of feeding Arctic Terns. As we came closer we saw 3-4 pods of White Beaked Dolphins leaping and breaching out of the water most likely to scare and stun the fish. What a day, we stayed as long as we could with them and saw 3-4 more induviduals on the way back to Reykjavík.

-Lisa Hofmann

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: This tour was even better than the last. The blue skies were breaking through the clouds and even the sun started to shine at the end. We got to see at least 5 different Minke Whale, one even scared the passengers as it surfaced just 10 meters from us expectantly. We got to see a large pod of 20-30 White-beaked Dolphins leaping and breaching out of the water and a small pod of Harbour Porpoises, maybe 3-4 individuals. We has flocks of Arctic Terns making a lot of noise, Gannets plunging into the water, puffins paddling right next to us and Arctic Skuas chasing terns for their food. An incredible tour with lots to watch.

- Megan Whittaker

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: We started in a much better weather than yesterday with some sun shining through the clouds. We first stopped at Lundey, Puffin Island and were able to see many puffins flying around the boat so the passengers got a good look at them. After we headed out we first spotted two Minke Whales in front of the boat. Suddenly they seemed to be everywhere. We had at least 6 Minke Whales surfacing all around the boat and even a mother with her calf. We spent quite a while with them as Harbour Porpoises surfaced just next to the boat, what an unforgattable day!! After a great encounter with the Minke Whales we headed back to Reykjavík and everyone was very happy.

-Lisa Hofmann

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: A nice tour to start the day, even though it was overcast, it did not rain. We started at Puffin Island and it was so nice to see all the puffins at home. We got to see at least 3 Minke Whales, one even startled us as it surfaced just a few meters from the boat. White-beaked Dolphins (15-20 animals) joined in after a while and a couple started leaping and breaching, most likely to scare and stun the fish. Everything then started to scatter and it was difficult to decide what to stay with, we decided the dolphins as these were a bit more interactive and fun to watch.

- Megan Whittaker

Birds seen on todays tours include: Atlantic Puffins, Northern Gannets, Kittiwakes, Black-backed Gulls, Black Guillemots, Manx Shearwaters, Common Guillemots, Fulmars, Eider Ducks, Arctic Terns, Arctic Skua, Razorbills, Cormorants, Greylag Geese etc..