Friday, 14 June 2024

All tours are ON SCHEDULE today, from Reykjavík!

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 9:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 20:00

Today we will be operating our Classic Whale Watching on our lovely vessel Eldey at 9:00, 13:00, 17:00 and our just as lovely catamaran Hafsúlan at 11:00, 15:00. Our Premium Whale Watching tour will operate on Þruma I-V at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 20:00.

Report from Eldey: Today we started our morning with very flat seas and weak winds. The sea conditions were perfect and we already knew that, if the animals were there, we would be able to spot anything at the surface! So we sailed out into this beautiful bay, and close to the harbour we already saw a harbour porpoise that came very close and then another one not too far ahead. That was a great sign, cause after sailing for about 20 min, we spotted at least 5 dark backs in the distance, and getting closer we saw it belonged to 6 minke whales feeding together! This was a very special sighting, cause usually they are quite tricky to track. But these ones were skimming and lunge feeding repeatedly right next to the boat and we had great looks and pictures of inside their mouth! We had minkes everywhere but it wasn't all: we saw a few splashes not far from us, and we went to check. We had 20 white-beaked dolphins very close! Some of them were jumping high and playful! In the same spot, other 3 minkes were around and other 3 at the distance, in total 12 minkes in the morning! What a great sighting. On the way back we decided to check the first group of minkes feeding again before heading back to the harbour, very satisfied and happy with such an active morning!

- Milla Brandao

Report from Elding: This morning we set off with an overcast sky, but very calm seas and barely any wind. After sailing for a while, we spotted our first minke whale and this quickly turned into 2. Bit by bit, more and more minkes arrived, until eventually, we were surrounded by no less than 6 minkes all around us! We could see them skimming and lunge feeding multiple times, until we finally decided to move on. After a few minutes, we found 2-3 pods of white beaked dolphins as well and soon no less than 15-20 individuals were bowriding, jumping and all together being incredibly social and playful! Eventually, we ran out of time and had to head back into port, feeling incredibly excited about this amazing trip!

- Milan Vansteelandt

Report from Eldey: We started by sailing out to Faxaflói bay for one more adventure! The sea conditions were great during the afternoon with flat seas and a slight breeze. Our morning tour was very good so we knew where we were headed! After 30 min of sailing we had our first sighting a minke whale! As we looked around we spotted more dorsal fins resurfacing further away!  More minke whales, all around the boat! The whales seemed to be feeding as there was a large presence of birds flying around in the area! After half an hour we decided to continue our trip but we kept seeing minke whales all around! After just 10 min we had a brief sighting of one harbour porpoise! It came to the surface a couple of times before it disappeared in the ocean! Towards the end of the trip we were once again surprised by 20 white-beaked dolphins very close! Some bow riding and very curious! In the same spot, other 2 minkes were around as well! as we were short on time we decided to return to the harbour but it was another amazing afternoon!  

-Maria Ernesto

Report from Eldey: after having great sightings during the whole day, the 17h tour couldn't be different! With still very good conditions at the sea, but now with blue skies and the sun on our faces, we sailed out on our last tour of the day to say goodnight to our favorite animals. We first spotted a couple of dorsal fins coming up, a pod of 15 white-beaked dolphins that already started very active: some of them were jumping, showing off and giving out their location. They came very close to our boat, bowriding with us for a very long time, and we had fun with them for a while until we saw a huge aggregation of seabirds up ahead. We went to check it ourr and saw a couple of dark backs at the surface. Getting there, we encountered at least 7 minke whales feeding a lot! Not only the minkes were having a feast, but also the birds around us! We were surrounded by birds and whales and it was amazing to spot the minkes lunge feeding next to us. We could easily spot every single individual and even pick where to look. How amazing is to be surrounded by wildlife! We lost track of time, and realized we needed to come back to the harbour, but already extremely happy with this amazing day.

- Milla Brandao

Artic skua, Arctic tern, Northern fulmar, razorbill, black and common guillemot, eider duck, herring gull, black-legged kittiwake, black-backed gull, Northern gannet, Atlantic puffin, pomarine skua.