Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Tour at 17:00: Report from Hafsúlan. It had gotten a bit colder since earlier that day. We headed out towards the area where we had seen the Minke Whales. After about 40 minutes we saw one Minke Whale. It was rather shy and we only saw it surface three times. We spotted some more Minke Whales, probably 3 individuals but they were all elusive and we didn't get a very good look at them. While heading home we saw a pod of 10-15 White-beaked Dolphins which seemed to be sleeping except for one which was very energetic and kept jumping around. On our way back we stopped in Akurey to look at the puffins. We saw many puffins flying, diving and sitting on the island.

-Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir

Tour at 13:00 Report from Skrúður and Elding: The weather was nice as we headed out. We started the trip with a visit to Akurey to see the Puffins, and we weren't dissappointed, they were everywhere ! When we sailed away from the Puffin Island it was only about 20 minutes until we saw the first Minke Whale and a few Harbour Porpoises. the weather had gotten better and the ocean was totally still. We sailed slowly around the area were we saw the first Minke whale and soon we saw more and more of them, they were all around us, surfacing very close at some time. They were obviously hunting and took long and deep dives.We got so nice looks at them and enjoyed looking around us and seeing how many they were. What an amazing tour in great weather !

- Freydís Ósk Hjörvarsdóttir

Tour at 09:00 Report from Hafsúlan: We sailed out this morning with an overcast sky threatening rain but very calm seas. We started our sea adventure at Puffin Island Akurey and were very happy to see many puffins at home amongst other seabirds. We then headed offshore and soon found a Minke Whale, very comfortable with our presence this Minke surfaced very close to our boat, feeding maybe as there were many Arctic Terns and Puffins in the area too. The next ceatcean we got to see was a pod of White-beaked Dolphins, maybe 15-20 dolphins in all. These were elusive to begin with but then started feeding 30-40 meters from us. It was incredible to want these wild animals behaving naturally. We headed offshore and got to see 3 more Minke Whales before heading back to the harbour. wonderful morning tour.

- Megan Whittaker

Birds seen on today's tour: Atlantic Puffin, Cormorants, Arctic Terns, Glaucous Gulls, Eider Ducks, Kittiwakes, Black-backed Gulls, Common Guillemots, Arctic Skuas,, Fulmars, Razorbills, Graylag Geese.