Thursday 26 August 2021
Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 14:00 and 16:00 Premium Whale tours and our lovely vessel Eldey for the 09:00, 13:00 and 19:00 Classic Whale Watching tours. For our Sea Angling tours we use our luxurious yacht Elding II. 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).
✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 09:00
Report from Eldey: Weather was pretty good and sea conditions optimal for whale watching. Cetaceans were a bit elusive at first but eventually we got to see a few in a more relaxed way. Our first minke whale was spotted in our first half an hour roughly speaking. It was probably feeding as it changed directions pretty quickly. Our passengers showed a fair amount of excitement when they saw it. Minkes are not usually very friendly towards boats and its behaviour dictated different priorities for this animal. We kept going and managed to locate a pod of 8-10 white beaked dolphins. Especially juveniles´ behaviour was thrilling to watch. Some breaching and them getting closer to our vessel was very exciting. After a while with these dolphins we tried to find other species in the bay. We succeeded at that as we encountered a humpback whale in the area. It had a beautiful back side of the fluke and performed a few dives in front of us. Probably feeding whale but most certainly travelling.
- Jorge Pascual
✔ PREMIUM WHALE ON SCHEDULE | 10:00
Report from Þruma II RIB: Finally, the weather conditions allowed us to go out on our RIB boats. The ocean was a little choppy but the sky was dry – mostly clouded though – and the wind was not as strong as in the past few days. We headed a littler to the southern area of Faxaflói bay, as other boats in the bay were more north. We had little luck in the south but when we got up north a bit as well, we found a pretty active humpback whale, which was likely feeding. It showed us its fluke numerous times and surfaced very frequently. We also saw a minke whale, close to the humpback, but had a hard time tracking it. We then circled the bay a little more and on our way back we encountered two more humpback whales, sleeping or resting side by side – very close to each other. It was magnificent to see them dive synchronously before we had to head back to harbour.
- Fróði Guðmundur Jónsson
✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 13:00
✔ SEA ANGLING TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 13:00
✔ PREMIUM WHALE ON SCHEDULE | 14:00
Report from Þruma II RIB: The weather was getting a little bit worse but it was still OK, the spotting conditions were just a bit tough with the choppy ocean. However, we quickly found 2 minke whales in the same area, just a little outside of Grótta lighthouse. First, we saw one of them – a very big one – but it was swimming south and we preferred to go north for this trip as that is where the humpback had been found earlier in the morning. So we turned around and there was another minke whale, smaller and more elusive. As we went norther, the conditions became a little more rough, but we managed to find a nice humpback whale. It gave us three or four very nice flukedives along with a huge tailslap, before we had to leave because of time constraints, but it was great spending the time with it.
- Fróði Guðmundur Jónsson
Report from Þruma IV RIB: The wind strengthened as the day grew longer, building a small wave that came from the south east which made for a bumpier ride on the way home. On our way out, we came across a very large minke whale that showed itself a few times before rolling its back and disappearing in the swell. After leaving the minke, we sighted the blow of a humpback whale shortly after receiving a radio call from a colleague that a whale was in the area. The humpback began being a little difficult to watch, surfacing two or three times and remaining under the water for some time but became easier as time went by. The whale even lifted its tail from the water to perform some acrobatics as it tail slapping, before returning to more standard surfacing behaviour.
- Mike Smith
✔ PREMIUM WHALE ON SCHEDULE | 16:00
Report from Þruma IV RIB: Conditions were getting even worse by 4pm, the wind had picked up a lot and the swell was getting higher. That did not fault the tour though, as passengers had great fun riding the waves and getting the occasional splash over the boat. Our sightings were not too bad either – we found two humpback whales lying side by side by the surface, and soon a pod of 12-15 white-beaked dolphins came over to annoy the humpback. It was incredible to watch the humpbacks surface simultaneously, almost always showing their flukes when they went for a deep dive, and then seeing the dolphins jump over them, agitating them meanwhile. The dolphins also checked us out a lot, came close to the boat and jumped up spectacularly. The humpbacks also slashed their tails around to rid themselves of the dolphins, and after a deep dive one of them may have breached behind us, we just heard noises and turned around and saw huge splashes. A great tour in fun but difficult weather!
- Fróði Guðmundur Jónsson
✔ CLASSIC WHALE ON SCHEDULE | 19:00
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.