Monday, 8 July 2024

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 9:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00, 20:30
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 20:00

Report from Eldey : Today was a rare morning as we spotted all four main species in one tour! Conditions were optimal to look for animals with no wind, dry weather despite a cloudy sky, quiet sea and great visibility. Just a few moments after leaving the harbour we crossed a minke whale gently traveling, although we did not stop as our attention was caught by a blow in front of us : a humpback whale, also traveling through the bay at a mild pace. We followed it for about 20 minutes before deciding to continue our journey. Soon enough, we stumbled across a second minke whale, surface feeding this time. It gave us the pleasure to surface a few times very close to our boat before suddenly disappearing, and we continued the trip to find a small pod of 3 white beaked dolphins a few miles away. They were traveling towards the west, and we followed them until our time ran out and we had to start going back to the harbor. On our way back, we crossed 3 or 4 harbor porpoises traveling in our opposite direction, with one of them even jumping ! a behaviour we rarely see with porpoises. The weather remained constant and we arrived back to Reykjavik under perfect conditions. 

- Olivia Garcia

Report from Hafsulan - this morning we set sail with perfectly calm and glossy seas and a bit of sunshine, perfect conditions for whale watching! We sailed out between the the puffin islands where we could see a lot of these iconic birds flying around. However, we headed out at sea to the area where some whales been spotted in the morning. Indeed, as we approached we saw a blow of a humpback whale! We arrived in perfect timing as other boats were leaving the area so we could have the whale all to ourselves. It was very relaxed on the surface and coming up multiple times, few very close to our boat. In the same area we also spotted a minke whale in the distance and two more on our way back home. After successful morning tour we arrived very happy back in Reykjavik.

-Aleksandra Lechwar

Report from Eldey : Our second start of the day started again with great conditions just like this morning, with great visibility, calm seas and a very mild southwest wind. Not long after leaving the harbour, we stumbled across our first traveling minke whale ! but that individual was displaying a pretty elusive behaviour and we continued our route after losing its sight. Shortly after, we encountered a second and a third minke whale in the same area! We could stay a while with these guys but after a bit we travelled onwards, towards a big blow in the distance! When we arrived in the area, we realised we were surrounded by no less than 3 humpback whales! They were all surfacing and fluke diving quite oftenm and two of them were swimming right next to eachother for quite some time! Eventually, time was up and we needed to head back home again, amazed by today's incredible sightings. 

- Milan Vansteelandt

Report from Hafsulan: We headed south after leaving the harbour and passing the islands just off the coast. On our way out we got to see quite a lot of Atlantic puffins on this calm sea. After sailing for about 30-40 minutes we saw a big blow then moments later we saw a fluke dive a bit closer to us. There were 2 humpback whales ahead of us. We started with the one closer. It was regularly going for fluke dives but only taking 1 or 2 breaths. It was likely feeding further down in the water. After spending a while with this whale we headed towards the next. This one was staying at the surface for longer and taking more breaths before longer dives. Then out of nowhere it burst into action. It did a peduncle throw and multiple tail slaps. It was so cool to see this happen. It then went for a fluke dive and we decided to carry on as we had seen a 3rd humpback whale also.  Before we got to this humpback we also saw a minke whale surface a few times. This one was lunge feeding quite a bit as well as fluke diving. So then we headed home after a great tour seeing lots of cetaceans.

- Rob Hyman

Report from Eldey : For our third tour of the day, the swell had picked up a slight bit but the weather remained dry, the wind mild and the sky was starting to clear up. While arriving towards the center of Faxafloi bay, we encountered a solitary humpback whale feeding and diving regularly. We observed it for a while as it fed at the surface and showed us our fluke in a series of majestic dives. On top of that, it also lunge dived a couple times, adding to the excitement. After a while, we said goodbye to the whale and continued our journey to find a small pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins slowly traveling in the bay. Shortly after these guys decided to move on, we stumbled upon the same humpback as earlier, still showing off the same behaviour. As we were starting to make our way back to Reykjavik, we stumbled across a minke whale and another humpback whale! The minke was quite active, surfacing pretty close to us before disappearing for deep dives, so we returned home, with a beautiful sunset colouring the sky. 

- Milan Vansteelandt

Report from Eldey: We set sailed a calm and beautiful night, with the sea was very calm as a plate. Our expectations were very high from previous sightings and we set off to explore with great excitement. Shortly after, an elusive and shy minke whale appears and peeks out a couple of times and few passengers are able to see it. But after a while, we saw a groups of puffins and arctic terns fishing and travelling and a blow in the distance. We approach it and suddenly a humpback whale shows itself! This one was very active, it dropped out of sight multiple times while eating, and we could even saw many times the fluke diving they do, showing off the glowing tail. We stayed and enjoyed their appearances in a very peaceful and quiet environment, listening to their exhalations and living in the moment. We spent about two hours with her, it was a magical encounter, where we also saw behaviours such as lunge feeding and rolling, showing of course the remarkable and beautiful pectoral fin. Suddenly the whale went off into the sunset and we decided to leave her alone, returning very happy and excited to the harbour.

- Sergi Gonzalez