Saturday, 29 January 2022

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 not mandatory but are recommended in areas where keeping distance from others is not possible.

The seas may be rough, so as always, we have sea sickness tablets available free of charge at our ticket office. Join us by booking online or contact us directly for more information (elding@elding.is / +354 519 5000).

Report from Eldey: January has been a very challenging month with regards to the weather. We have, unfortunately, had to cancel so many whale watching tours, so when the conditions calm and we are able it is that much more exciting to see what is around for us to encounter. Today started beautifully, sun was shining, very little wind and the swell has reduced significantly. Whoo hoo. We first encountered a harbour seal we could follow down our starboard side, then a few minutes later a small pod of about 3 harbour porpoises that came and fast as they went. A very quick glimpse of our smallest cetacean species. The star of today’s tour was the amazing diversity of birds and a pod of 4-5 white-beaked dolphins. First spotted by our marine biologist deckhand Eline and as soon as she let us all know via radio a sudden snow blizzard hindered are ability to see them. We waited it out, they only last a couple of minutes before the skies clear again and there they were. They seemed to be milling around the area and was quite interested in us. Coming close, bow riding and just enjoying our company. Another companies vessel came over to see the amazing North Atlantic dolphins and also enjoyed their company but the dolphins obviously got bored and disappeared. We search for them a while but then gave up and sailed to a different area in the bay to see what else was about. No other cetacean was encountered but we thoroughly enjoyed the constantly changing Icelandic weather, beautiful landscape and seabirds. A great day out in Faxaflói Bay.

- Megan Whittaker

Common guillemot, european shag, great cormorant, northern fulmar, northern gannet, black-legged kittiwake, black-backed gull, glaucous gull, herring gull, red throated diver, eider duck, long-tailed duck.