Tour at 09:00
Report from Hafsúlan: It was a windy morning today in Reykjavik's harbour, but a group of brave sailors went out on a whale watching journey in Faxa Bay. We shortly visited the puffin island Akurey where we lingered a while watching the "Clown of the Sea", the Atlantic Puffin. True bird enthusiasts also enjoyed the other birdlife on the island including among others Cormorants, Brent Geese, Greylag Geese, Oystercatchers, Eider Ducks and Glaucous Gulls. Then, we went out to the windy sea. It is hard to put it in words, but something special was lying in the air already, maybe just a feeling, but also could have been some kind of foreboding. We had not even reached our main whlaewatching area when two dark dorsal fins broke through the rough sea surface: White-beaked Dolphins! Amazing to see these beautiful cetaceans close to our boat. First, we saw a couple of them, but soon another three dolphins joined, even jumping elegantly here and there - what a great start of the tour! As if the dolphins wanted to guide us the way, a Minke Whale surfaced next to them all over a sudden. The minke behaved quite energetic and surprised all of us with a strong and fast surfacing, lifting its body out of the water by far more than usual! The bay was filled with life with seabirds feeding around our boat and more Minke Whales and Dolphins showing up all around. In total we must have seen about 5 to 8 different Minke Whales and 10 to 15 White beaked Dolphins. The team spirit was strong today and passengers and crew worked hand in hand spotting cetaceans literally in all directions - an amazing tour that rewarded all the brave sailors who joined this exciting journey on Faxa Bay! Eventually, special greetings go out to two of our passengers who are from Giessen, my home town, a small city in Germany - please deliver the greetings to our nice "Hessenland" and also many thanks to all the brave sailors of today's tour!
- Hendrik Schultz
Birds seen on today's tour: Atlantic Puffin, Cormorants, Arctic Terns, Glaucous Gulls, Eider Ducks, Oystercatchers, Kittiwakes, Black-backed Gulls, Common Guillemots, Great Skuas, Black-headed Gulls, Fulmars
Note: Unfortunately, both tours at 13.00 and 17.00 have been cancelled today due to strong winds and rough seas