Tuesday, 12 April 2022

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
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 16:00

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. 

Report from Eldey: This morning, it was a bit windy but the swell wasn't too bad so we had good conditions for spotting some cetaceans. We decided to head back to the area near Akranes where the whales have been feeding for the last week. As we sailed past Hvalfjörður (Whale Fjord), we spotted the back of a humpback whale! We stayed with this whale for a little while watching it surface and go for deep dives. It started to take longer dives so we continued on to Akranes. On the way there we caught a brief glimpse of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins swimming fast. They disappeared under the waves not long after we spotted them but then we saw a large blow in the distance. We headed in this direction and soon saw two more humpback whales feeding separately but in the same area around Akranes. We watched these whales show us their flukes as they fed. Once our time was up we left them to finish their breakfast and headed back to Reykjavik after a wonderful morning tour.

- Emily Erskine

Report from Eldey: The weather was very similar to what we had this morning with clouds but little wind and it was not cold for Icelandic standards. The sea was getting more and more flat during the tour giving us a very good visibility. We headed directly to Akranes were the humpbacks were seen this morning and had a very quick sighting with a group of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins. Like this morning the dolphins disappeared very quickly and we continued crossing 3 or 4 atlantic puffin quickly flipping their wings. After a while they was a little bit more birds and from far away we spotted the blows of 2 humpback whale. We approached a bit the area and could see from far away the back of those baleen whales going for a dive. We were going to get closer when we saw another animal on our left. A huge triangular dorsal fin and a thin but powerful blow, a black back with a white eye near the eye..an orca ! We were very excited and started to approach this male orca when we saw that there were more fins further away. In total we saw maybe 20-30 orcas! It was an amazing sighting, the orcas came close to the boat, sometimes even under us, they were swimming slowly, very relaxed. More boats came so we went a bit further out with another group of orcas that were a few hundred meters away from the humpback whales! After seeing the orcas we decided to focus a bit on the humpbacks and we got closer to see the lovely fluke dives of those feeding whales. We even saw a couple of times a minke whale, quickly surfacing a little bit further out than the humpbacks. We had a few more views of the humpback whales and when other boat joined us we came back to Reykjavík, saving some time to stop in case we cross the orcas again. The sun was warming us very nicely and the sea perfectly flat so it was just incredible when we found the orcas again and we spend a great moment with them, surfacing on each side of the boat, sometimes a very small calf was surfacing very close to the boat, adorable. It was just so beautiful to see orcas with the mountains in the background. We wanted to head back home but the orcas were in our way so we couldn't leave, how convenient! We felt like they were escorting us to Reykjavík. We slowly speed up and left them behind us, finally going back to the harbour after an unforgettable tour.

- Miquel Pons

Report from RIBs: The strong wind and choppy waters in the harbour were thankfully nowhere to be found once we motored out into the bay: the sea was calm, there was not too much wind, and there was a beautiful sunlight decorating the landscape around us. The excellent visibility helped us spot the first marine mammal of the tour as we saw this cetacean's dorsal fin stick out high above the surface. This dorsal fin did not belong to a species we regularly see in the bay, so we were all extremely excited to spend some unforgettable moments with this beautiful animal: the orca. This orca was not alone: spread out all over the bay were maybe 20 or 30 individuals - some females and juveniles swimming in groups, some males swimming by themselves, some mothers with their calves, and some of them coming very close to our RIBs. After having admired the orcas for a while we decided to check out a humpback whale that had been seen by our bigger boat right off Akranes. It was amazing to see this baleen whale as it surfaced, lifted its fluke, and went for a deep dive close to our boats. On the way back to Reykjavik we looked for the orcas again and many of them had now joined together. To see the large, majestic male next to the small, incredibly cute calves was heartwarming and an experience we will always remember. 

- Mike Smith and Eline van Aalderink

Report from RIBs: The beautiful conditions of the previous tour continued into late afternoon and after the incredible encounters we experienced, we left the harbour full of hope but knew things can change very quickly in the bay. We set sail heading in the direction that we last saw the pod of orca travelling and sighted them very close to the island of Engey. The pod consisted of over 10 individuals with males, females and calves all present. Two large males seemed to slowly lead the pod as they remained in front of their group for the duration of our time with them. The mothers accompanied the very young calves who stayed glued to their side. Their demeanour appeared very calm as they slowly but deliberately stayed true to their course, heading in a southerly direction. We were able to have excellent views, moving alongside and slightly behind at a respectable distance. Once we left the orca, we headed west towards the coast of Akranes. Here, we watched two white-beaked dolphins frolic around a feeding humpback whale. The whale didn't appear to appreciate their presence as it often growled when surfacing to take a breath. Once the whale dove, the dolphins quickly followed in the exact position vacated by the whale. This behaviour continued for quite some time to the humpbacks displeasure.

- Mike Smith and Eline van Aalderink

Northern gannet, northern fulmar, black-legged kittiwake, lesser black-backed gull, greater black-backed gull, black headed gull, Atlantic puffin and eider duck, European shag.