Monday, 19 June 2023

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 20:00 Premium Whale tours and on our lovely vessel Eldey and Hafsúla for the 09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 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
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 12:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 16:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 20:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 20:30

Report from Eldey. The sky was grey mass of drizzling clouds but the sea was smooth as a mirror with no wind at all, which made for a very smooth sail. We set out into the bay and not long after leaving we had our first sighting but it was not just one species but two we spotted at the same time. Humpback whales and white-beaked dolphins and lots of them all feeding in the same spot, how amazing! It was a very big pod of dolphins, at least 40 animals all jumping, feeding, coming to the surface, surrounding the 4-5 humpback whales, which were doing the same. Some of the humpies were also lunge feeding, showing their massive jaws and bloated throats. After looking at them for as good amount of time and more and more boats joining us we decided to go. We decided to follow some of the dolphins that were travelling quickly and purposefully towards some other humpback whales in the distance. Once they arrived we encountered the same scene as before, a feeding frenzy with now it seems even more dolphins and whales! They were all jumping and splashing, diving and feeding to all our joy. Then we headed back but encountered some surprise minke whales, which we followed for some time as well. As it was time to head back we had a humpback whale pop up very close to the boat close Reykjavik and a small pod of harbour porpoises! In total we probably saw 5-6 individual minkes, over 50 dolphins and at least 10 individual humpback whales. What a tour!

- Cindy Schwenk

Report from Elding: Although we had a light rain during the whole tour, the sea was flat and calmly beautiful! We saw some boats in the distance and we thought they had lots of activity in that area. We didn't even get there yet and we spotted at least 3 minke whales not far from us, and 2 humpback whales, performing beautiful fluke dives. Continuing our trip, we spotted about 4 other minkes around us and about 8 harbour porpoises very actively feeding as a group, but we focused on the blows in our front. There were 3 different blows of humpback whales traveling together and other one not far from them. Could it get any better than this? YES! The humpbacks were not alone: about 40 white-beaked dolphins were part of the party, some side by side with the humpbacks, jumping and other a bit far... mating! Such an active spot. Also, the humpbacks performed incredible behaviours: rolling, tail slap, pectoral slap and even spy hopping! We enjoyed our time with them in silence, with the engines turned off, amazed with such a great group. What a way to start the week.

- Milla Brandao

Report from Eldey: It didn't rain on this tour! This was very nice to enjoy this fantastic tour, so much happened! As we headed out into the bay we arrived at a pod of white beaked dolphins they were making splashes by jumping out the water and swimming in circles. This is a method of feeding to enclose the fish in the middle. Within this pod 3 humpback whales appeared. They were also part of this feeding. They started to vertically lunge feed which was so cool! Later on we also saw a humpback breach 6 times in a row! The fun never seemed to end on this tour. It was so cool. We also saw 5-10 minke whales joining in the feeding. Some harbour porpoises also made an appearance for a surprisingly long period, they were constantly at the surface for 5 minutes. This was an amazing tour, in total we saw 10-15 humpbacks and at least 80 dolphins doing the majority of the feeding and splashing.

- Rob Hyman

Report from Eldey: Another great midnight tour. Clear and calm sea condition with an ocean like a lake. We saw Arctic terns, Atlantic puffins, northern fulmars and a northern gannet during the way out. We started spotting 2 minke whales but we wanted to reach the area that has been so good in the last few days. In that area we found over 60 white-beaked dolphins feeding as well as 8 humpback whales, plus probably 4 more humpbacks in the distance. Just incredible. We were seeing the whales sometimes coming very close of us when the fish under the surface was moving, white beaked dolphins bow riding and jumping with juveniles approaching the boat probably curious. We saw 3 breaches, humpback whales jumping out of the water with their massive body. We stayed in the area for a while moving a bit when the animals were spreading around. When we got out of time we headed back to the harbour with a beautiful sunset in our back. 

- Miquel Pons

Atlantic puffin, common guillemot, black guillemot, Arctic skua, northern fulmar, northern gannet, great black backed gull, lesser black backed gull, razorbill, herring gull, Arctic tern