Monday, 22 August 2022

Today we will be operating on our lovely vessels Eldey and Hafsúlan for the 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, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00 and 19:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00, 13:00, 14:00, 16:00

Report from Eldey: The sea was calm ad pleasant with very little wind and swell. The sky was covered in clouds but no rain and still a bright bay with clear views on the landscape. We had our first sighting quickly enough with an amazing pod of  6-7 white-beaked dolphins. There was 3 calves in the group quite playful specially the smallest one that was doing little jumps so we could observe the yellowish coloration of its body, showing that its very young individual, almost a newborn. We stayed with them for a while and we tried to leave they followed us bow-riding and just staying super close of the boat. They finished to leave but right after we spotted a second and third pod of white-beaked dolphins. The were all relaxed and coming to have a look at our vessel. We continued to find other species and found an area with 4 minke whales, feeding near plunge-diving northern gannets. One of the minke whales came very close of us in front of the boat and another one was lunge-feeding non far, showing its white and pink belly. This pink coloration appears when the animals are very active and they refresh they body temperature by opening small blood vessels, bringing blood to the exterior layer of the body, making the blood colder. We stayed a while spotting minke whales popping here and there until we were out of time and headed back to the harbour, crossing the previous dolphins again. 

- Miquel Pons

Report from Hafsulan : It was with a really calm sea and a small breeze that we started to sail off this morning. It is not long in the tour that we started to have some sightings. First spexies we saw was the white beaked dolphin, we first got a look on one pod of about 3 individuals quite elusive, then a second pod of about 4 individuals a bit more friendly to finish then with a 3rd pod of about 5 to 6 individuals including 2 newborn calves much more active and even leaping out of the water. We then continued our way to find a humpback whale, this whale was diving about 9 minutes (quite long dives), but we still got to observe it surface for 3 sequences at a respectable distance from the boat. After some time observing that whale we moved in another area where we encountered a minke whale, we have seen about 3 to 4 real far away during the first part of the tour, but this last individual surfaced barely a few meters from the boat so we got to observe it a few times nicely in our vincinity. In the area where this minke whale was seen we also noticed 2 harbour porpoises that showed up quite close to us, enough to be able to photograph them which is really rare for that species. It was then time to head back to the harbour, 4 species in one tripit is what we call a full house ! It is not so often that we get to observe our 4 main species in one tour, a great trip !

- Mélanie Magnan

Report from Eldey: The ocean had calmed down even more from the morning and was now silky smooth. There was a tiny bit of rain during the tour and barely any wind - great conditions! When we got further out into the bay, we started spotting some minke whales! These can be tricky to see as they are incredibly fast. As they proved a bit tricky we moved and we spotted some white beaked dolphins! One pod was a bit further and one very interested in us! We then heard of a bigger cetacean and decided to investigate. After 10min we saw the blow of a humpback whale! This one took fairly long between surfacing and as there were already a lot of boats, we decided to not over-stay our welcome. We saw 2 fluke dives and then a lot more minkes on the way back to Reykjavik. On our way back we were surprised by one more pod of white beaked dolphins. This pod had multiple tiny calves! They were incredibly cute and were jumping all around. In total we saw 4 pods of dolphins, one humpback whale and 16 minkes! What a time to be alive.

- Anna Richter

Report from Hafsulan: The seas were still really calm and the clouds were letting the sun beams shine through when we started our afternoon sail. The air was dry, and the adventure set. All of a sudden, a fin appeared between the ridges of the waves: 3 harbor porpoises made their apparition, fast but cute. A minke whale was jealous of the attention, and stole the scene from the porpoises, which fled in shame. The minke, a usually shy animal, was unusually comfortable around us, and chilled with us for some time. We even saw about 4 to more minkes as we sailed through the area. Some white beaked dolphins also appeared, a pod of about 6 with a baby. After some time we continued our way and encountered... a humpback whale. In this area with the humpback whale some minke whales were also appearing in the distance. This humpback whale was going for long dives but we still got to observe it for some time. While observing it a lot of minke whales appeared around our boat, at times really close, about 4 different ones at least. Our time slowly started to run out and we started our way back toward the harbour when all of a sudden, the humpback whale breached ! It only breached once unexpectedly, which will be probably the greatest memory of all of the lucky passengers that got to get a glimpse of that impressive breach.  Amazing to see so many species at the same time, and even more our 4 more common ones in a trip, jackpot.

- Milla Brandao

Report from Elding: The weather was very Icelandic meaning a slight continuous drizzle under overcast skies but that did not stop our brave whale watchers to go outside in search of marine wildlife. Our first sighting was a pod of 5-7 white beaked dolphins bow riding a bit and jumping around the boat. Among them, one lonely minke whale also made its appearance for one brief but close surface. After admiring the dolphins for some time we spotted a blow in the distance. You know what that means: 1 humpback whale ! This one showed us its fluke multiple times from far away and some occasional minke whales came up very close then while waiting for the humpback to come up again. Then suddenly, we saw a second humpback next to the other one We watched these individuals in the beautiful sunset that made Reykjavik looks like it was on fire. And so were the northern gannets soaring past the setting sun ! What a beautiful midnight tour with all these marine life !!♥

- Enorha Guimard

Northern gannet, black headed gull, arctic skua, lesser and greater black backed gull, herring gull, atlantic puffin, glaucous gull, northern fulmar, manx shearwater