Monday, 8 November 2021

Today we will be operating 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
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00

 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: Our whale watching tours are always full of surprises, but some encounters are even more unexpected than others. While we sailed out hoping to find the minke whales and humpback whales that had been seen yesterday, we spotted an uncommon visitor in the spot where the baleen whales had been feeding yesterday… When we arrived to the area, we first came across two groups of respectively two and three harbour porpoises, but they disappeared fast. Certain that there were other animals present because of the high abundance of seabirds, we kept scanning all around our boat to see if we could spot something bigger. It took some patience, but the animals we spotted were definitely worth the wait, because we saw 4 orcas! The high black dorsal fin unmistakeably belonged to a male killer whale and was accompanied by a smaller individual, a mother, and her calf. We had to wait a while before we next saw them, but then we spotted the black dorsal fins behind us at some distance. We were able to come closer, and at some point the orcas also started approaching us and suddenly they were very close to our boat. It was spectacular to see the diversity of the pod members, ranging from the majestic large male to the mother with her playful calf. The calf couldn’t help but put a smile on everyone’s face, jumping next to its mother and showing us a big part of its body. We all felt incredibly lucky that these fascinating animals had ventured into the bay and given us this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Eldey: The afternoon started off cloudy and with some light rain, but the sea was relatively calm. There were many birds in the bay, so we suspected that there were a lot of fish around, and we hoped to see other marine animals as well. Our first encounter was with harbour porpoises, but they disappeared as soon as we saw them. Second, one of our passengers spotted a pod of three or four white-beaked dolphins behind our boat. They surfaced a few times in the distance, and one of them even came to our bow, but the dolphins were difficult to follow and we lost sight of them. The rain had suddenly increased and it was getting quite foggy, so the visibility was not optimal. Still, we were able to spot a minke whale that surfaced less than fifty meters from our boat. Although some of us had been lucky enough to catch a close look at the beautiful whale, it only surfaced once and then went for a long dive so we lost it. Then, the rain and fog cleared up as fast as it had appeared, and when the skies were clear we were able to see the blows of two humpback whales! The pair of whales were individuals that we have been seeing together in the bay for a while and have always put up a nice show for us to observe. Again, they gave us an amazing encounter filled with unexpectedly close visits to our boat. At some point, one of the whales was right underneath us, giving us the “birds-eye” view of its magnificent body. When we wanted to leave them, they kept appearing around us. When the whales went underwater, we left them with the memory of one of the whale's flukes lifted above the surface as we motored away.

- Eline van Aalderink