Wednesday, 7 August 2024

Today we will be operating our Classic Whale Watching on our lovely vessel Eldey at 9:00, 13:00, 17:00 and 19:00 and our just as lovely Hafsúlan at 11:00 and 15:00. Our Premium Whale Watching tour will operate on Þruma I-V at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 20:00.

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00, 19:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR |10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 20:00

Report from Eldey: A foggy morning quickly turned into a sunny whale-watching trip today. Despite the misty conditions, we were able to spot a pod of three harbour porpoises, and a little bit later two separate blows in the same area. Two humpback whales were feeding here, coming up frequently but in random locations - always keeping us on our toes to look out where they would surface next. After some wonderful moments, we left these humpbacks to search for something else and quickly found a pod of 6 white-beaked dolphins. The dolphins were curious, and swam right up to our boat. Ultimately, they led us to another humpback whale, a very small individual. This humpback was diving for more than ten minutes, but he was more than worth the wait because he came up one meter away from us! We could see his full body through the clear water as he swam from our portside underneath the boat to starboard. On the way back we saw one more harbour porpoise and enjoyed the bright sunshine over Reykjavík. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Hafsulan: Our trip started if an excessive amount of fog, with little to no visibility but a clear blue sky over us. The moment we came out of this eery environment, the sea was completely still and we had a clear view on the various blows ahead of us. Through the tour, we had the immense privilege of sighting 6 different humpback whales and 2 very shy white beaked dolphins. Our first sighting was a couple of humpback whales, who very calmly travelled, with who we got to sight diving multiple times in the tour, even leaving them to come back later on as they continued their slow movement carelessly. They were joined by a smaller humpback individual, clearly very young, who roamed around them for a while before breaching in front of us ! As we left, these 3 went away all together, fluking to wave us goodbye.

- Alex Paumier

Report from Eldey: Unlike this morning we now had glorious sunshine! Everyone was in a tshirt and eager to see the bay. As we sailed out and turned the corner we did notice the wind had picked up a bit. We didnt have a long sail befor we spotted a few blows on the horizon. These belonged to a humpback whale and when we got closer we noticed it was being accompanied by a pod of 6 white beaked dolphins! This pod was pretty much always around the humpback. From the encounter it looked like quite a relaxed individual that didnt seem to mind the presence of the dolphins. There was a wide array of behaviour, from deep dives and two spy hops! The dolphins eventually headed on themselves and then the humpback came extremely close to our boat - only a few meters away!! Eventually a few more boats turned up so we decided to head on and find something else, as to not overcrowd the animal. After a bit more sailing we spotted one white beaked dolphin! This was just came up for a second and bow rid for a minute before zooming onwards. Then a few moments on from that, we spotted two more blows. There was two more humpback whales! Both took turns to come up on our left and right side and one would fluke dive nearly each time it went down. We sadly ran out of time so had to start heading back, but to our surprise as we turned we saw two breaching humpback whales in unison! We decided it was ok to be a little late and enjoyed these two whales breaching and then tail slapping! There was even a third humpback in that direction though it was difficult to tell if it was coincidence or if they were travelling together. Then we really really did run out of time and headed back.

- Anna Richter

Report from Hafsulan: In the bright afternoon sun, we departed from Reykjavik harbor, filled with excitement for our whale watching trip. The weather was perfect, with calm seas with just a small swell and a clear sky enhancing our anticipation. About 45 minutes into our journey, we spotted a spout of water in the distance. A humpback whale! We watched, captivated, as it surfaced repeatedly. Continuing our journey, we were fortunate to see a total of six humpback whales all around us. A particularly memorable sight was a pair of whales traveling together, staying side by side throughout the day, fluking in synchrony which made the moment truly special.  As our adventure drew to a close, we made our way back to the harbor, thrilled with the day's sightings and thankful for the remarkable experience. Observing these majestic creatures in their natural environment was truly special.

-Maria Ernesto

Report from Eldey: The sun was bright, the sky clear, and the wind very low - a perfect day for whale watching. There were lots of humpback whales in the bay today, and we could already see the first blow on the horizon early on in the tour. The first individual was feeding and we spent some nice moments with him, but then we wanted to explore all the other blows we could see around us. On our way to another blow, a second humpback whale came up out of nowhere! We watched him for a few surfaces, and when he started resting at the surface we left for the third whale. This individual was probably feeding, although he also threw his peduncle in the air out of nowhere! Next, we got distracted by two more large blows a bit further away. When we were still quite far away from them, one of those humpback whales started jumping out of the water! Breach after breach, this whale was very active. When we got closer, his behaviour changed to peduncle throws and tail slaps. The show continued non-stop, and the whale came closer and closer to our boat. We ran out of time and needed to start heading to the harbour, but behind us the whale continued making splashes. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Elding: The skies were almost completely clear with only a light breeze blowing as we sailed into the sunset this evening. It did not take us too long to spot some activity in the far distance as we could see the blows of 4 humpback whales in the distance. as we got closer, we spent some time with the first individual, before we moved on to the very dynamic duo a bit further away. When we got closer we also quickly realised these 2 humpbacks were hanging out with a pod of 6-8 white-beaked dolphins! This encounter was absolutely incredible as they were swimming side by side the entire time, while lunge feeding various times and even bubble net feeding! Eventually we had to leave these very dynamic animals as it was time for us to head back home, while we could spot the fourth whale in the distance,

- Milan Vansteelandt