Friday 3 June

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 20:00 Premium Whale tour and on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00 and 17:00 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 | 10:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 12:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 20:00

 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 Hafsulán: This morning wind from the west was creating a small but frequent swell so we had good visibility but the boat was a bit rocky. A light rain was falling on our heads during the tour even though well protected in nice warm overalls we could stay outside without problem during the tour. We spotted a first blow quite early and then a big splash produced by a breaching humpback whale. If the animal was not jumping anymore it was tail slapping, pectoral slapping and lob tailing giving us an amazing show. We went further out when more boats arrived and find another blow, followed by several small splashes made by jumping white-beaked dolphins: There was 6-7 of those beautiful cetaceans and they came close of our boat. But we decided to continue because another humpback whale was breaching in the distance! We got close and could enjoy the best show! The big mammal was leaping out of the water, head slapping, pectoral slapping, sometimes from quite close allowing everyone to take great videos, pictures and to admire this amazing behaviour for a while. Sometimes it was going for short dives and when we were out of time we left after a last fluke dive. During the way back we crossed the white-beaked dolphins again. 

- Miquel Pons

Report from Elding: What a way to start the weekend! When we set sail we left behind a rainy Reykjavik and we were excited about what we would find. Shortly after departure we encountered a pod of harbour porpoises! Usually they are quite shy but these individuals stayed with us for a few moments before continuing on their journey. We also continued on our journey and saw some blow in the distance. Soon we found white beaked dolphins as well as a humpback whale! It was difficult to tell whether the dolphins were playing or harassing the whale, making it a very interesting encounter. The dolphins decided to move on and we spotted another blow so followed that to find another humpback whale. While we were enjoying its company we saw 2 more blows! This individual did a lot of interesting behaviour like pec and tail slapping. We forgot all about the time and quickly headed back to Reykjavik.

- Anna Richter

Report from Hafsúlan: Weather was a little choppy but quite clear, so we were confident to see some animals when leaving port. It took us some time but eventually we saw a humpback whale breaching in the distance. As we got closer the animal put on a show for us, deciding to roll onto its back repeatedly and slap the water with both pectoral fins. After spending ages with this individual enjoying the spotlight, we decided move on and see if we could find anything else. We managed to find another humpback who loved to slap its tail on the water for us. After a while of this individual throwing its tail around we decided that it was time to head back to port. Thankfully on the way back Elding 1 and ourselves found another humpback who was much more reserved in its behaviour, just going for some dives and coming up to breath. However when waving goodbye to it and our friends on Elding 1 we spotted our fourth and final humpback just behind the third. Sadly all good things must come to an end, but we were treated to one final surprise in the form of a pod of harbour porpoises that came to say peek-a-boo. With 4 humpback whale sightings and a harbour porpoise sighting, we were very lucky on board today.

- Liam van Walsum

Report from Elding: We were excited to find one of the many whales we had seen in the morning when we sailed out into the bay for our afternoon tour. About eight harbour porpoises welcomed us to an area with lots of fish. We then spotted a blow, belonging to a humpback whale we have nicknamed "Twostripes", because of two white stripes in the leading edge of the dorsal fin. We saw the individual peduncle slap from a distance, and when we approached the area, the whale calmed down, taking dives of approximately 5 minutes and coming quite close to Elding. After some time we decided to search for other individuals and we spotted the blow of Gustav, one of the other regular humpback whales in Faxafloi this year. Gustav was incredibly curious and friendly to our boat today, coming up within less than 5 meters besides Elding! Sometimes bubbles revealed where Gustav would come up, and sometimes he/she came up out of nowhere, almost splashing us with the droplets from the blow! What an incredible sighting and we are so happy to have experienced these beautiful animals and the connection with nature as they came right next to us. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Hafsulan: We headed directly to the same area than this morning, hoping to see the same nice whale than this morning and afternoon. The wind picked up a bit making the sea slightly more choppy than today. After an hour of sailing we saw a blow and got closer to see a humpback whale quite calm, coming to the surface to breath a few times then going for a few minutes dive. We saw it from quite close and could stay with it for a while, until we saw another humpback whale breaching further away! Meanwhile we were approaching we saw the animal jumping again and again! Very impressive. When we got closer the humpback whale already stopped and was calmer. It was Liney, a whale that we have seen many times being very active lately. We stayed a bit and the animal started lob tailing, and tail slapping giving us a great show. We stayed until we were out of time and headed back to Reykjavik.

- Miquel Pons

Greylag goose, eider duck, raven, common guillemot, black guillemot, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, black-legged kittiwake, arctic tern, atlantic puffin, northern gannet, northern fulmar