TUESDAY, 6 AUGUST 2019

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  19:00

Report from Hafsúlan: What a beautiful example of unpredictability this tour was. We had an amazing show of the northern fulmars that came incredibly close to our heads and were doing aerial stunts around the boat. We sailed for more than an hour and a half before we spotted something bigger than a bird. Around 10 white-beaked dolphins were quite shy at the beginning, but later started to leap out of the sea and come close to our hull. It was a cool spectacle topped only by a fantastically rare sighting of a basking shark that came even 5 meters away from the boat. At the end of the tour, just to tease us, a single minke whale showed its back a couple of times in a distance of 300 m. A very dynamic and quite exceptional tour.

-Lucas Heinrich

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  17:00

Report from Eldey: Wind picked up a little from the west but the sun was shining and the visibility was perfect. Just 15 minutes from leaving the harbour a minke whale was spotted by our puffin island, Engey. It surfaced about 4 times before arching its back and disappearing. It was a nice surprise close to coast, taking advantage of the plentiful food in the area. We waited but unfortunately we couldn´t find it again. We travelled northwest then to our most productive area in the bay and after 1 hour sailing we saw a few splashes in the distance from white-beaked dolphins. As we got closer a much larger splash, a minke whale surfacing high and fast. We were trying to catch up but it was outta here. Then we found the dolphins again and they were fantastic, leaping, bow-riding and having as much fun with us as we are having with them. They must have been annoying the minke whale because it stopped splashing around once the dolphins changed their focus to us. In the end there must have been at least 15 white-beaked dolphins putting on a show. Such an amazing time.

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  14:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We did this tour with great sea and weather conditions. A smooth sea and a slightly clouded sky with a warm sun. And we found plenty of whales. We saw 6 minke whales surfacing around the boat during those 3 peaceful hours. "Cici", an individual seen during the previous tour, was there again ! One of those whales came really close of us so we could distinctively see the rostrum and the blowholes. We also saw a pod of 6-7 white-beaked dolphins but they were busy fishing and moving fast in the bay so it was not possible to see them from closer today. The way back under the sun with the wind in our back was very pleasant. 

-Miquel Pons

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  13:00

Report from Eldey: As we left the harbour we headed straight to the same area where we had the previous sightings in the morning. Everything went according to plan. Once we got to this area we spotted a minke whale right away. As we kept track of these individual we reached a spot where there were at least 3 minke whales feeding! At some point we were prety much surrounded by these lovely giants! Closer to the end of the tour we encounter 2 pods of around 7 to 9 white beaked dolphins. Once all our guests got enough time to take multiple pictures of these cheerful creatures, it was time to return to the harbour. After such a journey, most certainly everybody kept wonderful memories from this experience.

- Inês Cunha

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  10:00

Report from Hafsúlan: A bit of a cold morning with no sun, but plenty of whales. We sailed out for an hour and were soon surrounded by minke whales. There were about 5-6 in the area and plenty of times they came 20 meters away from us, so they could be seen, heard and also smelled. We were happy to encounter a familiar individual yet again, for the 4th day in a row. It was "Cici" with it's unique hole in the dorsal fin. It was very difficult to not be amazed on this tour, a minke rich tour.

-Lucas Heinrich

✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  09:00

Report from Eldey: The bay was full of life this morning, just 10 minutes of leaving the harbour we saw the water bubbling with mackerel and many puffins swimming near to the islands they have their one chick ´puffling´ a year. The larger animals were out further in the bay, about 1 hour sailing offshore. Plenty of fishing boats marked the productive area where we found a pod of at least 12 very active white-beaked dolphins. They swam towards us and played under and around our vessel. adults and juveniles together bow-riding, leaping and generally having a lot of fun. After 30 minutes of enjoying our dolphin encounter we went searching for whales and found 2 minke whales. They were moving fast and difficult to photograph but they came up many times so at least a few pictures could be made. By the end of the tour at least 4 minke whales were encountered. This morning we had slight winds, overcast skies but dry and great visibility. A great tour to start the day. 

- Megan Whittaker

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