Friday, 25 November 2022

Friday, 25 November 2022

Today we will be operating on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 13:00 Classic Whale Watching tour. 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 | 13:00

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 sanitizer is advised. 

WHALE WATCHING TOUR | 09:00

Report from Eldey:  Wow, what a way to start the day. The weather today was spectacular. It was quite dark whilst we boarded the passengers but there is something beautiful about seeing the sunrise whilst out at sea and today was no exception. The colours were so picturesque and only grew in vividness and diversity the more the sun rose. The wildlife, however was more challenging and it took us a long while over half the tour to see our first whale. A speedy minke whale in the distance. It was very hard to see the whale itself but we could see where it was surfacing but the smooth circular patches on the surface. This individual was very difficult to follow but soon we found another. The second was easier and more comfortable with our presence or maybe not as frantic with its feeding. It surfaced at least 8-10 times allowing everyone onboard to see it and even get a picture. On the way home we were lucky to encounter a 3rd individual. Two quick surfaces and gone. We headed home in the calmest of conditions we have seen in a long time. Perfect morning.

- Megan Whittaker

CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00

Report from Eldey: On this lovely day you might almost think you were on a whale watching tour with Elding in the summer rather than the winter. There was almost no wind and a very small swell. This made us hopeful in what were almost perfect spotting conditions. We could see birds everywhere yet we found no luck with cetaceans so far. Then suddenly splashed started to appear next to some previously active seabirds. We found some white beaked dolphins! This was a quick travelling pod of about 15 individuals including 2-3 tiny calves. The pod slowed and started to pay more interest in our ship now with some even bow-riding. As they started to swim off into the sun glare we decided to carry on with our voyage. We shortly spotted a back in the distance. As we got closer a humpback whale surfaced to our right-hand side! We saw up to 2 different individuals including some beautiful dives where the individuals showed their flukes to us. Having witnessed a great show from two of our most common species here in Faxaflói Bay we all returned to Reykjavik very happy!
- Rob Hyman

Bird species encountered today include:

Common guillemot, European shag, Great cormorant, northern fulmar, black-legged kittiwake, black-headed gull, black-backed gull, glaucous gull, herring gull, eider duck,