Thursday, 16 May 2013

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The wind had picked up once more on this evening tour and there was a couple of pale faces but it was nice to be out on the water with the warm sun behind us and the warm evening light was beautiful. We only got to see glimpses of Harbour Porpoises and Minke Whales on this tour, nothing we could actually show the passengers, except for a few lucky soles that got to see it as well. We did however give out Complimentary tickets in the hope they would have better luck next time. We ended the tour nicely at Akurey Puffin Island and got some nice pictures of them flying infront of Reykjavik Capital City.

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: This tour was much like the last except we were able to spend longer with the Minke Whales and the wind conditions had calmed down a lot. We saw at least 2 Minke Whales on this tour and one in the sky (there was a cloud that looked strangly like a minke whale), the minke spirits speeking to us maybe. We also saw a pod of 3-4 Harbour Porpoises which the passengers got a great look at. One Minke Whale was incredibly special surfacing just 20-30 meters from the boat on many occasions. We got a great look at him/her.  Once again a great example of the wonderful nature here in Faxaflói Bay.

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We sailed from Reykjavík today with relatively strong winds, so we started the tour at Puffin Island where we have about 5, 000 breeding pairs and then stayed close to the coast to shield us from the strong winds. Once we were close to Akranes we headed further into the bay. We saw many birds but not so many whales until nearer the end of the tour when we got to see 1-2 Minke Whales and a couple fo Harbour Porpoises. Gannets also started to plunge into the water just meters from our boat. So it took some time but in the end it was a very nice tour.

Birds seen on today's tours: Northern Gannets, Arctic Terns, Fulmars, Eider Ducks, Atlantic Puffins, Common Guillemots, Cormorants, Black-backed Gulls, Kittiwakes, Greylag Geese, Brent Geese.

- Megan Whittaker