Friday, 11 August 2023

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00 Premium Whale tour and on our lovely vessel Eldey and Hafsúla  for the 09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00, 17:00 and 19:00 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
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 19:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 20:00

Report from Eldey: We sailed out this early morning, leaving the rain in Reykjavik and quickly finding better weather out in the bay. Hoping to reiterate the experiences of previous days, our first sighting was as positive as we wished: a pod of 10 white-beaked dolphins, jumping in the distance, came to us to cross our paths and bow-ride, close enough for all to see. This joyful encounter gave us more enthusiasm to go further to find our other sightings of the day: further out in the bay, 4 minke whales were feeding and travelling. Our luck helped us once again, with one grazing past our ship, before we decided to turn back home after a fantastic tour.

- Rob Hyman 

Report from Elding: As we were boarding this morning we were facing grey skies and what looked like would be a very rainy tour. We all prepared and put on our overalls and were ready to face the weather. We sailed out a bit but were only faced with some wind and then the skies turned blue! The sea was a lovely colour and after sailing about 40min we started spotted minke whales everywhere. The first few were a bit tricky to follow but then we got a few friendly ones, one of which came up roughly a meter from the boat. It was minke mania! We slowly ran out of time and started heading back to harbour, now basking in full sunshine. Just as we were passing the lighthouse, and very close to being back we spotted another minke whale, making the tour total 7! This was a very calm and friendly individual coming up very close to us multiple times. At this point we were running late but it was worth the extra visit of the minke.

- Anna Richter 

Report from Eldey: We set off into the Faxaflói bay in search of more cetaceans. We were very hopeful after seeing some dolphins and minkes this morning. As we sailed around the bay it was very calm, great conditions to spot marine wildlife. It was also quite warm meaning passengers could relax outside. We saw seabirds as we sailed around the bay including the very cute Atlantic puffin. Soon they will start to leave us after their breading season so everytime we still see them is very special. Unfortunately, not cetaceans joined us on this tour. We therefore gave out complimentary tickets so that all our passengers can come back in the future. Hopefully we will all have better luck at finding cetaceans on that occassion.

- Alex Paumier

Report from Elding: Cloudy skies and calm seas greeted us as we set sail from Reykjavik harbour. Not far from the bay we saw 1 solitary harbour porpoises, but it was quite elusive and tricky to follow so we kept on sailing further out. Soon enough another cetacean joined us very close to the boat. It was 1 minky whale swimming alongside the boat in a very relaxed manner. We stayed for a while and then we saw splashes in the distance. It was a pod of 6 playfull white beaked dolphins jumping. As we got closer they started bow riding letting everybody enjoy their playfulness for good amount of time. Overall a really nice tour.

- Ludvig Hultgren Svensson

Report from Eldey: We sailed out in this early evening trying to better our chances from this unlucky afternoon. Off the bat, a couple of 2 harbour porpoises lifted our spirits for the following hours. We then saw a blow so headed in that direction. But we got distracted by a pod of 8 white-beaked dolphins who were kind enough to show extensive curiosity in us; after several bowrides and dives under our boat. To complete our journey, 4 minke whales were seen almost consecutively, keeping everyone's heads on a swivel whilst they deceptively crossed our path. As we decided to head home, 2 other white beaked dolphins quickly showed their heads as a last enjoyment for the night. We will never know what produced that below before we saw the minkes and dolphins but we had a great, entertaining tour still!

- Rob Hyman 

Report from Elding: We started the tour right in time with good weather. We all were very excited about the tour so we headed out and we saw 2 small pod of white beaked dolphins with 3 individuals each. After that we continued a little bit further and then we saw a sneaky minke whale for a brief moment. As we were heading back we saw a bigger pod of dolphins. There were around 15 of them and they came super close to the boat so we could see them bow riding. It was very nice to spend this time with them. After that, we had a wonderful way back home with the stunning sunset on our backs.

-Nicolás Corral

Northern gannet, Atlantic puffin, Northern fulmar, black guillemot, common guillemot, black legged kittiwake, great black backed gull, Manx shearwater, lesser black backed gull, herring gull, Arctic tern, Arctic skua