Wednesday, 29 December 2021

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

• 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 mandatory in areas where keeping 1 meter distance from others is not possible. 

Report from Elding: We had so many passengers wanting to get out on the water today so we took out two boats. On our vessel Elding we sailed first close to the island of Viðey and was happy to be visited by  4-5 harbour seals that popped their heads up around the boat. Some seemed to be curious with us others not so much. We then left these and travelled more north towards Akranes but turned south as we crossed the mouth of Hvalfjörður (Whale Fjord). By this point we were feeling the force of the Icelandic weather and the boat rocked as we turned south but now we could lens with the swell and drifted with the wind. We found an area with an abundance and diversity of birds so we were hoping we would also find some whales and dolphins too but unfortunately they were shy and stayed that way for the rest of the tour so we gave our passengers complimentary tickets. In the hope they would have more luck next time. The sail home was rockier then expected, the wind had unexpectedly changed direction and increased in speed make the ride home more unpleasant than what we anticipated with regards to the weather forecast.

- Megan Whittaker

Report from Eldey: We sailed close to the fishing town Akranes today because we hadn´t explored this area in a while. Our captain kept us mostly sheltered from the strong December winds, although we experienced quite an adventurous moment when we were at the mouth of the Hvalfjord with a lot of boat movement. The sea soon got calmer again and we slowed down the boat to thoroughly scan the area for marine mammal activity. Although we didn´t see any whales or dolphins, we could admire some cormorants, guillemots and razorbills along the way. When we had to turn around, we were more exposed to the rough sea so we had quite a bit of movement on the way to Reykjavík. We saw a large group of 7-9 harbour porpoises very close to our boat, but unfortunately we didn´t spot any big wildlife on the tour. We therefore gave everyone complimentary tickets to come on another tour with us to have a better look at Faxaflói´s wildlife. 

- Miquel Pons