Thursday, 28 October 2021

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00 and 14:00 Premium Whale tours and on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 09:00 and 13:00 Classic Whale Watching tours. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00

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.

Report from Eldey: The morning tour started beautifully but very chilly. We experienced 6-8m/s winds from the northeast which felt a little stronger once passing Hvalfjörður (whale fjord). There was some rocking in the bay from the waves but nothing too uncomfortable and unlikely conditions to cause seasickness. Our first cetacean of the tour was a humpback whale that we stopped after 50mins sailing, Once the fluke came up we noticed it was one of the same individuals from yesterdays afternoon tour, recognisable  by the unique colours and patterns. Then we found a pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins a mile from the humpback. They were very fascinating to watch, showing behaviours we don’t see often, behaviours we believed to be associated with mating. In another area we encountered another humpback whale and two different minke whales and more large blows in the distance. Sooty shearwaters and common guillemots and many varieties of seagull were also in abundance. A fantastic morning.

- Megan Whittaker

Report from RIB: Faxaflói was still filled with marine animals today. Not long after we motored into the sunny (but nevertheless cold) bay, we spotted a blow of a minke whale. The whale stayed underwater for over five minutes, and since we spotted other blows in the distance we decided to pursue different individuals. The second blow we saw belonged to a humpback whale. The whale showed its uniquely patterned tail to us, and seemed happy to stay close to our boat. We stayed with the whale for a few surface sequences, but after a while we decided that it was time to see what else the bay had in store for us. We found the next humpback whale very soon, its unmistakable blow lingering above the water for quite a while because of the cold air. This individual was resting, surfacing calmly and staying more or less in the same place. The peacefulness of the whale, its impressive presence, and the sunlight shimmering on the water made this moment very beautiful. After around 15 minutes, we wanted to let the individual rest by itself. Thankfully, we didn´t have to search long for the next animals: we saw the blow of a humpback whale and the back of a minke whale! The minke whale surfaced a few times, but then both animals disappeared. As time had flown, we had to start heading back to Reykjavík. We stopped for a pod of 6 or 7 white-beaked dolphins on the way, and they jumped right next to our passengers! We then saw another minke whale, and three more on the way back. Incredible!  

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Eldey: Another chilly afternoon tour, with the wind and sea conditions picking up some, but  we still had a wonderful afternoon with two different humpback whales 2-3 miles apart and a pod of 5-7 white-beaked dolphins that we saw very well but not for very long. As they  disappeared and  our attention went to the big blow of one of the humpbacks close by. We also had so many beautiful rainbows during this tour with the light rain coming and going and the sun hiding and appeared from behind the clouds.  Once again the Bay of Faxaflói proved to be full of life.

- Megan Whittaker

Report from RIB: The wind had picked up substantially since this morning, so we hoped not to have to go too far out into the bay to see animals during the afternoon tour. Still, the waves that we encountered on the way were substantial, so our passengers truly got to experience the adventure of going out at sea in Iceland. The adventure got even better when we spotted a humpback whale! The whale was surfacing a bit irregularly, but its loud breaths always gave away its location so we were easily able to follow the individual. Although the whale fluke dived during the first few minutes that we saw it, it changed its behaviour to resting after a while. Most of the time, the whale did not give too much attention to our RIB, but suddenly - it surfaced less than ten meters from our boat! Despite the waves, we were clearly able to make out its silhouette underneath the surface, so we could eagerly await its next surface. Although the humpback whale had been amazing, we had already admired it for some time, so we started making our way back to the harbour. Along the way, we encountered two harbour porpoises close to our boat. It was very funny to see the contrast in size between the humpback whale and the almost ten times smaller harbour porpoises. It was an incredible tour, but everyone was also happy to make it back to the warmth and comfort of the harbour, where we had an up-close look at Harpa before we docked. 

- Eline van Aalderink