SATURDAY, 3 AUGUST 2019

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  19:00

Report from Eldey: The weather could not be better. Flat seas and mild wind were closing a great day. Right after leaving the harbour, we started to see a ot of birds from many different species feeding all around the place. We had the feeling that something was going to happen soon. Two dorsal fins appeared in the distance. As soon as we reached the area, thousand of birds, together with huge schools of mackerel were moving all around us. At least 3 minke whales were feeding in the area, surfacing really close to us and also a really unique behaviour! One of them put half of the body out of the water while eating a large amount of fish! It was amazing! We spent a long time with these whales until we decided to look for something else. A few minutes later, a pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins appeared in our sight. They were really close, just feeding continuously, even with a calf within them. It was a truly great tour!

-Elena Gutiérrez Ruiz

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  17:00

Report from Eldey: This late afternoon the wind picked up a bit, but otherwise the weather conditions stayed as they were earlier that day. Just passing Engey island on our way into the bay we already spotted one of our shy harbour porpoises. As usual we did not stop for the animal but continued our 'hunt' for bigger animals. And it took us about an hour to find our first of 3 minke whales. The animal kept surfacing between us and another whale watching boat, coming up really close to our boat twice. Not sure who was watching who. But after about 30 minutes we decided to continue our search. We spotted a very elusive minke in the distance but the animal kept disappearing. So we headed back towards the harbour, just to find lots of mackerel near the water surface very close to Akurey island and two minke whales feeding around us. They gave us another opportunity to watch those beautiful animals super close to our boat. What a finish for the day.

-Christina Winkler

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  14:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It still looked a little blit gloomy out in the bay at the beginning of this tour. Still, we were in a good mood after the previous tour. Our first sighting kept us waiting a bit longer, but eventually we found 3 minke whales, surfacing in various directions and distances around the boat. They were not easy to follow, but we managed to see them up close a few times anyway. When leaving the minkes we already saw some splashes nearby and of course these were produced by a pod of about 8 white-beaked dolphins. These animals were incredible, swimming up really close to the boat, so we could follow them underneath the water surface and being very acrobatic, with a lot of jumps and bow riding! It was another amazing encounter with these beautiful cetaceans, giving us a great show. We all had smiles on our faces heading back to the harbour.

- Diana Besel

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  13:00

Report from Eldey: After a beautiful morning we started our tour really optimistic. We headed to our usual spotting area in the company of two northern gannets. Very soon we had our first sighting, one pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins traveling in the bay. Suddenly long in the distance we spotted our first black back, so we headed towards that direction and we found in total 4 minke whales feeding. They were surfacing many times so we stayed for a while until another pod of 8 white beaked dolphins started jumping out of the water just in front of us. At the end of the tour we were really lucky: 1 basking shark was in the bay and we saw it. Incredible moments with the second largest fish in the world. 

-Jose Manuel Marco

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  10:00

Report from Eldey: We started the day with best weather for whale watching! Flat seas and some couds covering the sun glare made the visibility just perfect. After roughly 45 minutes sailing, a couple of black dorsal fins appeared in the distance. 7 white-beaked dolphins, including a baby and two juveniles, were feeding and having fun in the area. At the begining, they were a bit shy but, after a few minutes, they became really playful, just jumping out of the water and playing in the bow of the boat. It was so much fun! After spending some time with them, we continued our heading to try to find more species of cetaceans. We didn't have to wait for a long time. 2 minke whales surfaced in front  of the vessel. Once we got to the area, we were happy to discover that there were, at least, 7 minke whales feeding around us togerther with hundreds of birds. Our captain, wisely, turned off the engines so we enjoyed some peaceful moments with these wonderful whales. At the same time, another pod of white-beaked dolphins decided to feed in the same area. We were literally surrounded by cetaceans. It was magical!

-Elena Gutiérrez Ruiz

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  09:00

Report from Eldey: This morning started with the perfect weather conditions for whale watching: flat seas, no wind and the sun hiding behind the clouds. So we started off and just after passing the islands near the harbour we spotted our first of 3 harbour porpoises. Being really shy and really small animals, they are generally not easy to spot, which made it a very lucky day for us. Only another 20 minutes or so later, we spotted our first pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins. And what a joy it was being with those animals. They proved to be very playful and were following our boat and bow-rode while we enjoyed watching them. After another boat came closer, we decided to continue our search and found our first of 3 minke whales of the tour. This animals was beautiful to watch, surfacing between 2 to 4 times before diving for longer, and once coming up right (actually left) next to our boat. We spotted two more minke whales and another pod of at least 10 white-beaked dolphins. Those animals did not come as close to our boat as previously but nevertheless allowed us to be arround them for a while. If the weather stays like this, who knows what else we are going to find today.

-Christina Winkler

Bird species identified today: atlantic puffin, northern gannet, northern fulmar, common guillemot, black-legged kittiwake, manx shearwater, arctic tern, lesser black-backed gull, arctic skua.

We are sailing from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík today. The sea conditions are good, but if you are prone to getting sea sick, we do have sea sickness tablets available free of charge at the office and on board. Make sure to dress warmly and make use of our warm overalls as it is always colder on sea than on land. For more information contact us by email elding@elding.is or by phone +354 519 5000.