Sunday, 17 July 2022

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 14:00,16:00 and 20:00 Premium Whale tours and on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00 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
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 16:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 20:00
• 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: our adventure today started a bit cloudy, but in the middle of our tour we were just taking off our overalls and enjoying the sun with a weak wind on our faces. We went further out to an area where we saw a lot of flocks of seabirds and we really enjoyed watching the chaos of them feeding or trying to steal the food from each other. It didn't take long until we saw our first minke whale, a bit far from us, but at the same area. When we were getting closer to it, we saw a harbour porpoise surfacing a few times, quite close to our boat, coming up with its very tiny and cute dorsal fin. This one passed by us and we focused on not one, but at least 5 minke whales that were around us. We were surrounded by them and we could enjoy trying to spot and keep track on them, since they were quite unpredictable and fast! A few minutes later, we saw some splashes on the distance and we could see a pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins swimming towards us! They came very close to us and started to bow-ride, very playful and sociable. On our way home, we could still spot some minkes traveling and we enjoyed the good weather conditions.

- Milla Brandao

Report from Hafsulan : We started heading out with a few clouds, but to our surprise the sky almost completely cleared out to let us warm up with the sun shine and a really light breeze. After some time we spotted a harbour porpoise in the distance, quite close to the vessel. We stopped to have a look and this harbour porpoise let itself be seen a few times, which is quite rare for that species. We then continued our journey to an area where we found various feeding flock of birds and a few minke whales along with another pod of about 5 harbour porpoises. We got to observe in several areas a few minke whales, probably a good 7 to 10 in total. Today was definitely a minke day, and it was great to get to enjoy them from that close and even seeing a few lunge feeding !

- Anna Richter 

Report from Eldey: Our patience was tested a bit during the first half of this afternoon's tour, but the sightings were well worth the wait. We first encountered two separate elusive minke whales, but then we had to go rather far out towards the south to get to an area with a breaching humpback whale and another minke whale. When we approached the humpback, he threw his peduncle in the air three times, and swam right up to Eldey! Incredible to see this enormous animal from so close. Time was slowly running out so we started increasing our speed and headed towards Reykjavik, but on the way we came across 7 jumping white beaked dolphins! There were a few juveniles in the pod, and clearly these dolphins were in a very active and playful mood so we decided to stop for some time to admire them. When it was really really time to go, we encountered our fourth species of the day: the harbour porpoise! They were swimming next to our boat in a pod of about 5 individuals, one of which was a very small calf! What an incredible day full of diverse species and unique behaviours, we were very happy to have shared these moments with our passengers. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Hafsulan: In very icelandic fashion the sunshine from this morning had disappeared and been replaced by strong cool wind. We set sail eager to see to what we would find and we were not disappointed! As we get further into the bay we were greeted by 4 white beaked dolphins! This pod was jumping and porpoising. After we watched it for a few moments we moved on and found a humpback whale! It was giving us a great show and lob-tailing! There were already a few boats around this individual so we decided to wait until they leave to get a closer look. When they did leave the whale came quite close to the boat and was magnificent to see. Eventually it decided to move on and so did we, very soon after we found more white beaked dolphins but this pod of 5 was much calmer than the previous one. Definitely a dolphin day! 

- Mélanie Magnan 

Report from Elding: It was not too wavy but quite overcast today when we started our midnight whale sail. We first encountered a minke whale in the distance that quickly went for a deep dive. After seeing it just once arching its back to make a deeper dive in the horizon we decided to sail off to hopefully spot some other species. Not long after we encountered a pod of 10 white beaked dolphins, at least 3 mum's with calves and a good 10 other individuals spread out over the horizon. Dolphins were everywhere, jumping around, even bow riding. In the same area we encountered at least 2 other minke whales that we witnessed for a few surfacing sequences. A few more minke whales were encountered during our way back, about 3 or 4, and many more dolphins. Delphinetely a great way to end the day!

- Anna Richter 

Northern gannet, northern fulmar, black-legged kittiwake, lesser black-backed gull, greater black-backed gull, Arctic skua, eider duck, common guillemot, black guillemot, Atlantic puffin, Arctic tern, black-headed gull, herring gull, manx shearwater