Wednesday, 26 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, Hafsúla 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

Atlantic puffin, Common eider, Black guillemot, Common guillemot, Great skua, Pomarine Skua, Black-legged kittiwake, Black-backed gull, Lesser black-backed gull, Herring gull, Common gull, Manx shearwater, Northern fulmar, Northern gannet.

Report from Eldey: We started the tour right on time under good weather conditions. It was a bit windy but nothing that could stop us from seeing these amazing animals! We sailed out and after some time we could spot some spread minke whales, around 5 of them in the whole tour. Sone time later, we found the humpbacks! We could see two of them. We enjoyed a couple of fluke dives before we headed back to Reykjavik. As we were sailing back we spotted a pod of around 10 white beaked dolphins! They were quite active on the surface so we could see some of them jumping and bow riding as well! What a beautiful experience!

-Nicolás Corral

Report from Hafsulan: Another very good tour in the Faxaflói bay! After sailing out for a while and passing many seabirds we began to encounter many cetaceans, this included all 4 common species in the bay. The first species we saw was a minke whale. There was around 10 of these in total during the tour. They were all feeding amongst each other as well as with a humpback whale and 3-4 harbour porpoises. The humpback whale was coming up regularly before going for fluke dives. We could see many birds feeding here too. The humpback even showed us all the grooves on its chin at one point whilst feeding. On our way home we also saw 3 white beaked dolphins. They were jumping out the water making big splashes.

- Rob Hyman

Report from Eldey: We sailed with a sea pretty calm compared with the previous tour. Still cloudy and a bit windy but no so cold. We spotted 5 first minke whales all around us, in particular one of them was swimming very close that we could even hear its breath, not only smell it, as it was super stinky!! We spent some time cruising around with also many other individuals of the same species. We were surrounded by minke whales. We spotted also few splashes in the distance and going towards that direction we saw 1 pod of about 10 white beaked dolphins jumping and having fun. They also started riding the boat waves at the bow, swimming underneath the hull and giving us a very good show. We ended the tour admiring another species, 1 humpback whale, that showed us few fluke dives and once we started our journey back to the harbor, we met David Jones II, another humpback, that we know very well. It just popped up on our port side, few meters away, just to say goodbye before coming back to the city. It is definitely one of our favorite, so friendly all the time!!!!

- Marta Filippini

Report from Eldey: We sailed out in this calm but cloud covered afternoon trying to reiterate the sightings of this morning. We knew of some great activity far out, so we didn't lose time and went straight far out of the bay. When we encountered the first few flocks of birds, we luckily came upon 4 minke whales. These normally solitary animals were feeding in the same spot, where we manage to enjoy their presence for a prolonged time. We then joined the man event of our tour: the one and only Davy Jones II. This male humpback whale entertained, much like he has for the last days, in his feeding frenzies. Fluke dives after lunge feeds, we had the privilege to stay with him and his gymnastics for over an hour. This was of course surrounded by 4 other minke whales, who feed on their own, barely noticed due to the jumps of the humpback. We then left our friend to his fun, leaving having seen an unforgettable sighting.

- Alexandre Paumier

Report from Eldey: We started the tour with a bit of wind coming from the northwest but quite a nice temperature. As we sailed out we spotted 2 harbor porpoises and then around 5 minke whales before we got to the hotspot. We could see our favorite humpback whale Davy Jones II. It was feeding with so many birds flying on top of it. Right before leaving it decided to breach for us. What a show.

-Nicolas Corral

Report from Elding: It was a bit rocky out at sea this evening, but we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset trough out the tour. Unlike previous days we didn't have to sail far from Reykjavik harbour before we spotted a blow in the distance. Soon enough we caught up with a solitary humpback whale. It was Davy Jones 2 that kept us company trough out the tour. He was really social, swimming, rolling, spy hoping and waving it's pectoral fins right next to us. We didn't spot more any other cetaceans on this tour, but luckily we got to spend a good time with Davy. Overall a really nice midnight tour.

- Ludvig Hultgren Svensson