Sunday, 24 July 2022

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 16:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 20:30

Report from Eldey: The day started off with little wind and only small waves and otherwise smooth oceans. We set out with the purpose to find some whales and find them we did. Our first sighting was that of 3 minke whales surfacing close to the boat multiple times. We also saw some more swim at a distance. We got a good look at these stinky minkes feeding. After that we headed off in the direction of a humpback whales blow but before we reached it we were surprised by a small pod (3-5) of white beaked dolphins swimming towards out boat. They came very close and jumped out of the water a few times. After the dolphins had left us we found our humpback again and saw it fluke up, in the sunshine, this time. We stayed with this majestic creature for multiple deep dives where it showed us its fluke and then we headed home towards Reykjavík.

- Cindy Schwenk

Report from Hafsúlan: It was a pleasant morning to be sailing out in the Faxaflói bay today. We had the sea that looked almost like a swimming pool, flat but completely full of life. There were minke whales almost wherever we looked, we spotted about 6 in total. The stars of the show today were the white-beaked dolphins that approached curiously our boat, checking us out by swimming a little bit on a side, having their eyes on us, or in other words, human watching us. There were 4 individuals playing with the bow waves of the boat, swimming from port to starboard creating a zigzag with their navigation. As we continued our tour a spout could be seen at the distance. It was a humpback whale, and it was our beloved Mariupol that was swimming very peacefully, probably having a nap. It was heartwarming to hear the sights of admiration of our guests when Mariupol went for a dive though not before showing us its beautiful fluke. There were plenty of birds also in the bay today, with lots of Manx shearwaters and some Sooty shearwater, and of course our beloved Atlantic puffins. It's always thrilling to experience that these animals seem to enjoy our company as much as we enjoy theirs.

- Estel Sanchez

Report from Eldey: We had the most spectacular afternoon, with a nice sunshine over the bay and amazing animals in the water. We first encountered a pod of 7-10 white-beaked dolphins and a minke whale in the same area. The dolphins were travelling so we didn't want to interfere with their plans too much, and while the minke whale came up very close to the boat, our attention was diverted to huge splashes in the distance. The splashes were preceded by an impressive peduncle and tailfin being lifted out of the water: a humpback whale was tailslapping. We quickly approached the whale, and after it had been under for a few minutes the humpback whale lifted its full body out of the water: a breach! The whale breached five or six times, within 100 meter from our boat so we could witness the powerfull jump from up close - incredible! Later, the humpback started slapping its pectoral fin for a minute, and then it showed the mostly black fluke before going for a deep dive. We decided to leave the individual as in the distance we saw another one breach - could these two humbpack whales be communicating? On the way we encountered two minke whales, and when we reached the humpback (who turned out to be Mariupol) he had calmed down and was surfacing 5 times before taking dives of 7 minutes. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Hafsulan: We headed out this afternoon on a nice calm sea, our eyes focused on the surface trying to spot nice wild animals. We went in the same area than this morning and crossed many flocks of Manx shearwater smoothly gliding near the water. We spotted a minke whale on our left and could see it a few times but then further out was a humpback whale that was apparently breaching so we really wanted to see it and we did not stay long with the minke. We arrived to the humpback whale that was actually Mariupol. The whale was calm and travelling toward the west. We kept our distance a followed it to see the blows and the back of the cetacean coming at the surface. The whale went for a fluke dive a couple of time showing us its white fluke. We left to find other species and hoping to find the dolphins that were a bit further out this morning but no trace of their dorsal fin. We went back and found a second humpback whale. We were out of time but decided to wait the whale to show us its tail before we left. During the way back we saw Atlantic puffins, common guillemots with the chick and the parent calling each other and we talked about conservation.

- Miquel Pons

Report from Eldey: We left the harbour with some wind in our sails, swell under our feet and under overcast skies. After driving for some time we spotter our first cetacean a minke whale! And this one was not alone it was as so often joined by many of its companions popping up all around the boat. This group was hungry and obviously feeding on some fish with some very active sea birds. One of these minkes even came very close to the boat multiple times and made us very happy with this. Soon after this feeding minke group we spotted the blow of a lonely humpback whale in the distance. We made our way over to it and arrived just in time to see it deep dive. We observed this individual for quite some time and got to see it fluke up two times. On our way back we saw many more minkes and also some shy harbour porpoises in the wavy seas.

- Cindy Schwenk

Northern fulmar, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, great skua, Arctic skua, Arctic tern, Atlantic puffin, common guillemot, Brunnich's guillemot, eider duck, herring gull, black-legged kittiwake, northern gannet, manx shearwater, sooty shearwater, storm petrel, northern gannet, glaucous gull