✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE| 19:00
Report from Hafsúlan: Northerly winds this evening of about 10m/s meant choppy seas and colder conditions, we wrapped up warm in the free overalls offered onboard and stayed outside to enjoy the fresh air and beautiful scenery. We sailed close to coast gaining shelter from the winds and watched the mackerel bubbling on the water´s surface, puffins taking flight from the water and fulmars soaring past. It was a great start to the tour. We sailed to the mouth of Hvalfjorður where seas were choppier but where we found a very hungry minke whale. We were able to follow the minke whale for about 30 minutes, as it moved around the area surfacing near and far, this way and that way. Lucky we had a lot of eagle eyes amongst the passengers so it was a real team effort to spot this individual. The minke started to travel close to shore and at some point in waters as shallow as 5m to feed. It's always incredible to see how shallow whales go to feed, just amazing. We stayed in sheltered waters and searched for more but in the end we played some great music our Captain Nonny put together and sailed slowly home watching the sun set as we did. A great tour with awesome guests.
- Megan Whittaker
✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE| 17:00
Report from Eldey: This evening we sailed out with still a fresh breeze in our faces and a lot of sunshine as well. We sailed around Engey island to get into the bay. On the way into the bay we saw quite a bit of bird life, including plunge diving northern gannets, the largest seabird we have here in Iceland. It was about one hour into our tour, when Colin, one of our researchers, spotted small flocks of northern fulmars and a fin coming up underneath those flocks. When we got closer it turned out to be not just one, but 2 basking sharks, the second largest fish on this planet. We had at least one of the animals always very near to the boat for over 30 minutes, at one point having the dorsal fin, tail tip and nose poking out of the water. They were both feeding just underneath the water surface with their mouths wide open. As they are rarely occuring in Faxafloi Bay, it was a real treat to watch those beautiful animals circling all around us. With that image fresh in our minds, we sailed back to the harbour, enjoying another super sunny day in Iceland.
-Christina Winkler
✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE| 14:00
Report from Hafsulan: We sailed out in beautiful weather, it was sunny and clear, but we had a bit of some northernly winds. After a while we found 2 minke whales in the same area, unfortunately they were both travelling very fast and seemed to be quite elusive, and we didn’t want to disturb them, so we tried to find some other animals. The sea conditions were a little challenging, we had waves and white caps on the surface so it made it a bit harder for us. Unfortunately we were unable to find other cetaceans before running out of time and therefore we offered our lovely passengers the opportunity to come back on another tour for free.
-Kristin Vidja
✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE| 13:00
Report from Eldey: Our tour was a really icelandic adventure, the wind was blowing but the sun came out so it was not too cold. We sailed out in Faxafloi Bay through white caps in search of marine activity. After half an hour we spotted our first dorsal fin belonging to one minke whale! After spending several minutes with the minke we found out that the whale was rather elusive, so we continued onward with our safari. After enojoying several bird species, we spotted another minke whale about twenty minutes from the harbour. We saw it surface several times but it was difficult to track due to the rolling waves and long dives. We always want the best expirience for our passenger so we decided to give them a second chance to come back for free with a complementary ticket.
- Jose Manuel Marco
✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE| 10:00
Report from Hafsúlan: The weather was just beautiful during our tour today. It was a little bit windy, but the sun was shining throughout the tour as well. We kept searching for cetaceans for quite a while today, while enjoying beautiful views of the landscape around us. Some atlantic puffins were also flying by the boat and as it happens quite often, it was birds that led us to the first sighting. A few arctic terns were just feeding nearby, when all of a sudden a pod of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins surfaced underneath them. We got to see these lovely cetaceans a few more times, before they started heading away from us. We kept going, but the dolphins were the only cetaceans we got to see during our tour and so we offered our passengers complimentary tickets so they can try their luck on another whale watching trip with us for free during the next 2 years.
- Diana Besel
✔ TOUR ON SCHEDULE| 09:00
Report from Eldey: Starting the day with lots of clouds, some wind and some waves, we sailed out into Faxafloi Bay. On the way towards the south of the bay, we saw a huge group of northern gannets with a few individuals plunge diving, which is always a pleasure to watch. This is also where we saw our first puffling (puffin chick) of the day. Continuing our journey it took us about an hour to find our first cetacean encounter with possibly multiple pods with a total of 15-20 white-beaked dolphins. First we only saw them jumping from the distance, but when we got close enough, they put on quite a show by swimming all around us, jumping right next to the boat and diving underneath the boat. Only after three more boats arrived we decided to leave them behind and move on in our search. During the remainder of the tour we crossed path with a minke whale, but only Jose saw it in the back of the boat. We waited for almost 15 minutes, but the animal did no surface again around us. But that is wildlife: unpredictable and sometimes just not in the mood to be watched by us :)
-Christina Winkler
Bird species identified today: cormorant, atlantic puffin, arctic tern, northern gannet, northern fulmar, black-legged kittiwake, common guilllemot, manx shearwater, arctic skua.
We are sailing from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík today, sea conditions are favorable 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.
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