Saturday, 9 July 2022

Today we will be operating on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00, 17:00 and 20:30 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
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 20:30

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.

Report from Eldey: The weather forecast promised us heavy winds and some high waves so we were pleasantly surprised to have the swell behind us and a quite calm ride out of the bay. We saw some small flocks of atlantic puffins and other seabirds. After some time of searching in the foamy seas we saw our first minke whale surface briefly. After that we saw two or three other minkes in the vicinity but did not get too long looks at them. Later on we also saw a humpback whale dive down in front of us but not surface again. The crew decided to give out complimentary tickets for the scarce sightings and so everyone left the ship happy and with messy windblown hair.

- Cindy Schwenk

Report from Elding: One does not expect to have such an incredible tour with rough seas, strong wind and rain from time to time, but nature gives us gifts that we don't expect sometimes. Most passengers were having lots of fun in the Icelandic rocky sea, but we could also see some green faces. The sightings today were marvelous. The first humpback whale was breaching out of the water many times in the distance, and as we approached it, began tail slapping, tail breaching and pectoral slapping. As we come closer we realized that there was another humpback whale quite close, that seemed to respond to the breach of the first whale by breaching itself. We decided to stay with the first one. When we were waiting for it to surface again suddenly a pod of about 8 white-beaked dolphins showed up, making this tour even more magical as all in a sudden both species started to interact. The humpback was rolling its body as if in a dance with the dolphins. Eventually the humpback surfaced so close that we could have even touch it, and it again surfaced close, and yet again before raising its tail beautifully in the air for a dive. The dolphins did not stop playing on the bow. On our way back home another humpback whale took another big smile from us. What an intense and special tour.

- Estel Sanchez

Report from Eldey: beautiful trip out at sea in the afternoon, with strong winds pushing us on the back on the way out and on the front on our way in. the sea conditions were quite rough, but fortunately nobody got seasick and everybody enjoyed their trip. There were many clouds covering the sky, blocking the sunlight, but it wasn't that cold anyway. Once we sailed got far enough from the coast, we did not have to wait too long to see some whales: we soon spotted some high blows, sign that two humpback whales were around the area. We were able to follow one of them, despite some long dives it took, and get quite close to it, and admire it long white fins and face tubercules. This humpback slapped its head on the water surface, and engaged in lunge feeding both rare behaviors we don't get to see all the time!! During our humpback sighting we also got to see four minke whales, with one of them that came very close to the ship. The tour ended in the ebst way possible with the sight of a pod of white beaked dolphins swimming fast and jumping out of the water, possibly enjoying some of the waves! However, we were not able to stay there as long as we would've liked, as time was running out and we had to soon start to get home.

-Francesco Golin

Report from Eldey: We left the port with little wind and quite calm waves but soon got swallowed by a cloud of mist that decreased our visibility. Nevertheless we spotted our first minke whale close to our boat. The passengers got very excited. Soon after that we encountered a small pod of white beaked dolphins that came very close ton us. Later on we even saw another pod of them jumping happily out of the water. The highlight of our tour however was the humpback whale. It travelled slowly just under the waters surface so it was easy to follow and observe it. 

- Cindy Schwenk

Report from Elding: The evening started out foggy and with some light rain, so visibility was initially not ideal. Determined to see some of the animals we had seen earlier today, we sailed through the foggy area and hoped it would clear up by the time we reached today's sighting hotspot. Our optimism worked as we spotted huge splashes of leaping white-beaked dolphins a bit later on. About 10 white-beaked dolphins were leaping around us, sometimes coming right up to the bow to investigate us, surfing in the waves, and eventually directed us to a pectoral slapping humpback whale! The humpback whale was lifting both of its enormous flippers out of the water repeatedly, and then showed us its completely black fluke when it went for a deep dive. The whale stayed underwater between 5-10 minutes, but the dolphins stayed close to the surface while we waited for the humpback. The whale was well worth the wait, because when it resurfaced it did so with a bang - it breached! Incredible to have seen such a large animal lift its body out of the water and make a very impressive splash before it came up to the surface again for more pectoral slaps. In the same area we also spotted another humpback whale, but then it was time to sail back to Reykjavík while we enjoyed the midnight sunlight.

- Eline van Aalderink

arctic tern, arctic skua, northern fulmar, common guillemot, black guillemot, lesser and greater black backed gull, atlantic puffin, black legged kittiwake, northern gannet, manx shearwater