Thursday, 21 July 2022

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 14:00 and 16:00 Premium Whale tours 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
• 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

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: It was a beautifully calm morning as we set sail on our whale watching adventure. On our left the ocean was grey and on our right the ocean was blue. We were all excited to see what we'd find. We saw some flocks of birds in the distance and thought we would try our luck with one of them. Our patience was rewarded and we saw a minke whale on our left! Then another! And then white beaked dolphins jumping on our right! We didn't know where to look! As the minke whale disappeared we focused on the dolphins but they also disappeared. Then a blow in the distance! It seemed that we found the perfect spot. We carried on and got a closer look at the humpback whale - the origin of the blow. This was Mariupol! Today Mariupol was in an active mood, rolling under water and showing us its pectoral fins as well as some tail slapping! To our delight the dolphins returned as well. The pod was between 6 and 8 dolphins strong, a few stayed close to Mariupol and the others were spread across the front. This was special encounter, there were so many species in one spot. We even saw an artic skua harassing the artic terns for their fish. During the whole time we saw 7 minke whales around us in the distance with two coming closer to the boat on our way back to harbour.

- Anna Richter

Report from Hafsúlan: What an incredible day for whale watching! The calm seas and sunshine at the start of the tour were followed by sightings that just got better and better. We started by watching a minke whale that came unusually close to our boat and surfaced frequently, allowing us to get a good look at its beautiful streamlined body. We then moved further out into the bay, where we encountered a pod of 6-10 white-beaked dolphins, among which were 3 newborn calves. The calves were unbelievably small so everyone couldn’t help but smile when they quickly popped out at the surface next to their much larger mothers. Our next stop was in an area where a humpback whale had been sighted. We soon spotted the blow ourselves and were able to spend a long time with this individual (who we know as Mariupol), as she was feeding among many arctic terns and seagulls. In the meantime, we’d been seeing many minke whales (at least four) popping up around us, as well as 5-7 more white-beaked dolphins. We started following the dolphins, but to our surprise the humpback whale had also decided to follow us! Suddenly, we had three completely different cetacean species within the same area and we were spoiled for choice of where to look – an amazing way to round up this great tour full of diverse sightings.

- Melanie Magnan

Report from Eldey: The sky was getting darking this afternoon with even a bit of rain in the end of the tour. But the sea conditions were amazing, with almost no wind and a silver flat sea. It was very easy to spot the animals and we saw many puffins during the way out. After a while we found our first sighting, a pod of 6 white-beaked dolphins with 3 adults and 3 small calves. It was so sweet to see those little ones coming quickly to the surface. We continued to not stay to long and found an area with many minke whales, around 8-10 of those baleen whales were feeding with many big flocks of active birds around. The minkes were quickly and often complicated to see but we could see them from close a few times. We got the information of a humpback whale non far from us and went there to see it. It was Mariupol the humpback that showing its white fluke while diving. We could see it for a while but there was many boats so we kept a bit of distance. We went back home after seeing more minke whales and another pod of white-beaked dolphins. A very nice tour!

- Miquel Pons

Report from Hafsúlan: A really sunny day turned into a slightly rainy day in good Icelandic fashion. Even though the weather passed from dry to slightly wet, the seas remained as calm as the morning which made the sailing really comfortable. We headed back toward the area where we had seen 3 species in the morning and started our sighting with a few minke whales. We started our sighting with a minke whale, from 1 we actually got surrounded by at least 3 or 4 minke whales. In the area where we had the minke whales we spotted a blow in the mist, it was a humpback whale! All those whales were having a real feast around us, a lot of birds, still a few minke whales in the area and that individual humpback whale (an individual called Mariupol) that surfaced a few times really close to us. Then our attention was diverted again towards a minke whale who was lungefeeding on its side right under a flock of seagulls. Even then, there were more surprises in store for us: 5 white beaked dolphins appeared in the distance making their way toward our vessel. They just came for a few moments and then continued their way but we really enjoyed seeing them dive right underneath our boat. As we headed back toward the harbour we crossed path again with at least 2 or 3 minke whales, making the total of probably more than 10 minkes - what an eventful trip full of sightings!

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Hafsúlan: As we sailed out of Reykjavík harbour on our midnight tour, we were pleased to see that the sea had become completely flat and the light conditions were perfect for spotting animals from miles away. We encountered so many different individuals and species during today's tours, that it was hard to keep count. To make a little summary: we encountered probably around 10 minke whales spread out all over the bay, 3 humpback whales feeding in the same area, 15 white-beaked dolphins with calves jumping around, and two pods of 3-4 harbour porpoises. It's hard to pick a favourite among the species, they each showed us how beautiful the diversity of nature is in their own ways. The minke whales were generally busy feeding, but sometimes they surprised us and came very close to our boat, one of them even swimming very close to the surface within five meters of Hafsúlan. The humpbacks never fail to impress, especially when they lifted their gigantic flukes out of the water. Two of them were in a pair, swimming closely together while another humpback was also feeding in the same area with lots of seabirds around. The dolphins were very playful, leaping high in the air and swimming fast with their calves by their sides. This tour was unforgettable and a great ending to a beautiful day in Iceland. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Northern fulmar, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, great skua, Arctic skua, Arctic tern, Atlantic puffin, common guillemot, black guillemot, eider duck, herring gull, glaucous gull, black-legged kittiwake