Saturday, 23 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

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: With great conditions, we were very happy to explore what wildlife was in the bay this morning. The excellent visibility made it easy to spot the dark bodies of a pod of dolphins, and a humpback whale at the same time after around 40 minutes of sailing. We decided to see the humpback whale first. This whale was taking approximately 5 minute dives and then coming up a few times before showing us the fluke again. The individual was easily recognisable by the white scarring on the dorsal area, and the prominent nicks and notches in the fluke. After some surfaces we went back to look for the dolphins, and quickly found the pod of 15 white-beaked dolphins. There were a few juveniles and a calf in the nursing group and it was beautiful to see them all surface in unison. We still had some time to look for more animals, and in the distance we could spot a humpback whale again, the same one as in the beginning. We stayed for some very peaceful moments, the whale calmly breathing in the completely flat seas, and then time was running out and we had to return to Reykjavik. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from the Ribs: What a day of wildlife watching and powerboating in Faxafloi. Conditions could not have been any better as the sea was mirror flat, no wind and genuine warmth in the air with the sun. We left the harbour with two boats full of excitement as we were hopeful of a great tour due to recent sightings and the weather conditions. Almost immediately white-beaked dolphins were spotted. Their tall dorsal fins were unmistakable in the still water. The pod of 10-15 came very close to the boat, swimming alongside the left and right of us, quickly darting from side to side. Within the pod were some young calves that were extremely playful. The little ones were leaping clear from the surface slapping their heads firmly down. After a little time we headed south, in the direction of the numerous whale watching boats that were broadly spread in the region, passing large numbers of harbour porpoises that on rougher days may have been missed. Again, the beautiful conditions made spotting wildlife effortless. We came to a halt to watch the often neglected harbour porpoises but soon after continued on our way as the blows of multiple humpback whales became noticeable. The humpbacks seemed to be very calm, moving confidently amongst the boats and due to their abundance, no whale ever had more than one or two boats around them. On many occasions we watched the whales surface many times before lifting their enormous fluke for the dive. 

- Mike Smith

Report from Eldey: Conditions stayed consistent from this morning, so we had amazing flat seas to spot some more wildlife. Once we got arrived in a similar area to where we were this morning, we spotted a large pod of harbour porpoises. It is unusual to see this species in pods of more than four so we were lucky to see them, and for such a long time as well! Then we saw the back of a humpback whale. We were able to stay with this individual for a while and after one of our crew spotted another humpback a little distance away we decided to move on to the second individual. This was so that we didn't overcrowd the first whale as there were other boats watching it too. While we were sailing to the second individual we saw a third humpback's fluke! We were able to stay with one of the two individuals for a while with it coming close to our boat a couple of times before we encountered our third species of the tour, a minke whale! We were able to see the minke a few times before we ran out of time and had to head back to Reykjavik.

-Emily Erskine

Eider duck, Atlantic puffin, common guillemot, northern fulmar, northern gannet, herring gull, greylag goose, eurasian oystercatcher, black-legged kittiwake.