Saturday, 8 July 2023

 Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 20:00 Premium Whale tour and on our lovely vessel Eldey and Elding  for the 09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00, 17:00 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
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 16:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 20:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 20:30

Report from Eldey: We sailed out this morning, still enjoying glorious sunshine. There was little swell and no wind. Quickly after leaving we saw 2 harbour porpoises, but these quickly vanished. Further out, after about 40 min of sailing we spotted 2 minke whales. They were both elusive and as we had heard rumours that there were bigger 'fish' further out we decided to go there. Of course they were not fish but humpback whales! We got to our spot and were completely surrounded. In every direction you could spot blows and flukes. It was hard to count but there were roughly 8-10 humpback whales all around us. We stayed here and  enjoyed the sun and the many whales, we had two more minke whales join the feast as well. After some time together, we started our return journey and on the way back spotted a pod of white beaked dolphins. In the distance we saw them leaping out of the water and when we got there they were bow-riding and swimming all around us. A magical end to the trip, seeing all four of our main species!

- Anna Richter

Report from Eldey: Sailing off straight in the morning sun, with a glossy sea and a known spot of whale activity to aim for, we firstly spotted a minke whale. After a long way out, our travel was rejoyed by a prolonged period of humpback activity: around use were 10 humpback whales, enjoyed various fluke dives and shallow feeding. These were joined by 5 other minke whales through the morning, to fulfill everyones' enjoyment. We got the chance to stay over 20 minutes with a logging humpback whale, giving us the time to see all of its physical traits. Right when we decided to head back after a replenished morning, this very whale decided to wake up and breach for 6 several times. Whilst it flapped its pectoral fins, we turned around to see it one last time before we headed on our seperate paths.

-Alex Paumier

Report from Eldey: Our days in Faxaflói bay have been very sunny and magical with so much happening around us, and this tour didn't disappoint! We went to the same spot we saw whales in the morning, hoping they were still there... And they were! We saw at least 5 different blows of humpback whales ahead of us, including one that even breached twice. As we sailed closer to them, we decided to check the one with no boats around first. Even though, it was hard to choose where to look! While the whale close to us was underwater, other two were popping out in different directions. The easy part when keeping on track on them was the many Arctic terns flying above them! We decided to check one that was rolling on the water quite a lot, showing the belly and the long pectoral fins. Such an amazing encounter and even a harbour seal came to check it out! This animal was very curious, but kept its distance from the whale. We got distracted with so much going on and we realized we were running out of time, but we returned to Reykjavik enjoying the weak wind and the sunshine on our faces.

- Milla Brandão

Report from Hafsula: We had good conditions leaving Reykjavik. The weather was sunny, the sea was calm and we had high expectations from sightings on previous tours. Everybody where enjoying the sun on the outside deck as we headed towards the same area as before. Soon enough we spotted 2 pods of white beaked dolphins feeding and playing. We got pretty close and some of them swam right next to us. As we enjoyed their company there where several blows in front of us with varying distance. Suddenly one of the blows was really close to us. It was the first humpback whale sighting of the tour and luckily for us it was a really sociable individual. After a beautiful fluke dive, Marine biologist Anna could identify the humpback Neila. We got really exited while she was acting as expected really active and social. Neila went straight towards the dolphins and they seemed to enjoy each others company. After a while we had to move one towards the rest of the blows in the distance. We saw plenty of humpbacks all around us and we counted up to 6+. 2 minke whales joined in on the fun. We sailed back to Reykjavik feeling grateful after a really nice sunny tour.

- Ludvig Hultgren Svensson

Report from Eldey: We sailed out with the midnight sun ahead of us. We got a beautiful sunset despite the clouds. The sea was completely flat which was perfect for this whale watching. After about an hour of sailing we reached the same area as earlier in the day. We could see blows from around 6 humpback whales as well as the bodies of 5 minke whales. Out of nowhere one of the humpbacks started to peduncle throw a few times then moments later another one breached twice! This was amazing! We then saw 3-4 elusive white beaked dolphins pass by us very fast. The humpbacks started to fluke dive with many now disappearing off into the distance. We then spent a bit of time close to a very cute minke whale. Just before we started to head back a humpback came close to us again and gave us a beautiful fluke dive.

- Rob Hyman

Arctic tern, Northern fulmar, Atlantic puffin, common guillemot, great skua, Arctic skua, great black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, black-legged kittiwake, whooper swan, black headed gull, black guillemot