Saturday, 10 July 2021

✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  09:00

Report from Elding: It was another lovely morning to be out on the water. We did have some wind from the southeast, maybe 6-8m/s but very little swell. We sailed out to the area we saw humpbacks on the previous day but instead found an awesome minke whale that came up many times so all passengers were able to see it and even get some photos too, which is not always an easy task with minke whales. After maybe 20 mins of watching this individual we went searching for others. We did see another minke whale but it only surfaced once and even though we searched a large area for more cetacean the bay seemed a little quiet except for all the birds; puffins, gannets, seagulls, arctic terns were everywhere so they also entertained the passengers. On the way home we also saw 2 white-beaked dolphins surfaced but only once and then disappeared, obviously on in a people watching mood.

- Megan Whittaker

✔ PREMIUM WHALE AND PUFFIN TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  10:00

Report from Þruma: The water was very flat this morning, with a little wind causing a little disturbance but conditions were great for wildlife watching. We headed out again to our usual search locations and found many minke whales spaced out within the bay. Our first sighting was with a very small whale that threatened to be curious in our boat, as it was moving slowly towards our location, choosing to dive within 20 metres on our right and resurfacing at the same distance on the left. We watched this individual for some time before decided to search for other whales and found more feeding under flocking birds. We wanted to continue our search for another species but were more than happy with our minke whale encounters.

- Mike Smith

✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 13:00 

Report from Elding: This was probably one of the best tours in a very long time. We had mirror calm seas, clear skies, beautiful scenery and great wildlife. After about 1 hours sailing we found a large flock of birds, black-backed seagulls mainly and there we could see 4 white-beaked dolphins, two mothers with their calves. They were all feeding on a concentrated ball of sandeels called a bait ball which we were able to see at the surface. We were able to enjoy this for a long time before heading further out. Soon after we saw another 4-5 adult white-beaked dolphins that were breaching in the distance. Once again a very nice encounter but we didn’t stay as long with this group. We searched some more and encountered 2 different minke whales with a third a little more in the distance, they were all so relaxed and super easy to follow and photograph. So many birds were also seen; puffins, gannets, seagulls, terns all over the place. Before we headed home we saw another pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins that were

- Megan Whittaker

✔ PREMIUM WHALE AND PUFFIN TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  14:00

Report from Þruma: Conditions improved a little more than the morning as the wind strength dropped and the small wind swell settled. The tour itself was very similar to the morning, searching the bay and encountering many minke whales that seemed to be travelling through the area and some feeding under birds. Towards the end of the tour a pod of 5-7 white beaked dolphins came and interacted with our boat. Our captain carefully approached the pod but they chose to bow ride and perform acrobatic leaps to entertain the guests on board. Harbour porpoises were also sighted briefly showing their tiny bodies and triangular dorsal fins several times before diving.

- Mike Smith

✔ MIDNIGHT SUN/CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  20:30

Report from Elding : The sea was flat an calm, the temperature was nice and even if there was a lot of clouds, we could enjoy some nice red and orange colours from the sunset during the tour. All the ingredients for a smooth trip were present. We first spotted a pod of 5-6 white beaked dolphins from faraway because one was jumping doing splashes. We approached and saw that the cetaceans were feeding.  We stayed with them a bit but they did not seem interested by our boat. We continued and found maybe 3 other pods of white beaked dolphins. There also was a lot of flocks of birds so it seem like it was a very good feeding ground. Meanwhile we were looking the dolphins the captain spotted a minke whale from the distance. We tried to find it and we did. The animal was feeding as well, it was dinner time for the animals tonight ! We could see it lunge-feeding twice, accelerating on the side to gulp a lot of preys. We saw another minke further away and a third one during the way back. We were going back to Reykjavik when we saw the white-beaked dolphins again. The previous pods were mixing together, socializing, jumping, bow riding, and in a much more playful mood than before. We could also see an eruption of the volcano from the bay.

- Miquel Pons

Bird Species ID´d today: Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Common Guillemot, Arctic tern, Arctic skua, Northern Fulmar, Kittiwake, Eider Duck, great-black backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull.

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00 Premium tour and our lovely vessel Elding for the 09:00 and 13:00 Classic tour. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land. Join us by booking online or contact us directly for more information (elding@elding.is / +354 519 5000).

COVID-19: Keep in mind that passengers and crew are asked to ensure their own hygiene and safety at all times. Washing hands thoroughly with soap and using a hand sanitiser is advised. Masks are not mandatory but are recommended in areas where keeping distance from others is not possible.