Thursday, 19 July 2012

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: We had no luck finding whales this evening. There was a decent amounts of birds in the puffin island Akurey and a few birds here and there out on the bay, among them gannets. Apart from that we did not see much life this evening despite keeping a good lookout. There just were not many whales (if any) in the bay today so of course we gave out complimentary tickets. Better luck next time!

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The weather turned a little for the worst, wind has picked up and the rains came. We started at Akurey and saw few Puffins but enough to keep us entertained. We then sailed on and had a flock of greylag geese take off not to far from our boat. You could hear the sound of their wings flapping as they took flight. We then searched and seached and searched until finally out lovely barman Villi spotted a Minke Whale and what a fantastic Minke Whale it was. Captain Sveinn positioned the boat just so that it surfaced and shocked us just 3-4 meters from the boat. We were able to enjoy this Minke Whale for a long time and just watch it be..well...a Minke Whale. Not a very rich tour in terms of wildlife but a fun tour anyway.

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: This time we knew that Hafsúlan had seen whales so we headed straight to that area. When we arrived we spotted a group of white-beaked dolphins but they were quite far away and fast swimming away from us. We searched for them for a long time but without any luck. We gave op on the dolphins we searched in a large area in hope to find a minke whale we knew Hafsúlan had also seen. We managed to find that minke whale and we stayed with it for a long time, as it was surfacing close to the boat! The research team on board informed the crew that this minke whale was Miss. Peanut, a minke whale that we've seen every summer since 2008! It's always very nice to see an old friend coming back :)

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It always amazes the crew to see how quickly nature changes. We saw three species on this tour,  two Minke Whale, at least 4-6 White beaked Dolphins and 2-3 Harbour Porpoises. The porpoises were the first cetacean to be spotted and they surfaced many times but they didn´t stick around long. Then Captain Sveinn spotted a Minke Whale in the distance, we stayed with this whale for a little while but it was a bit difficult to approach. It was the dolphins next and they were great, obviously feeding but on a couple of occasions they came to and around the boat before chasing fish again. Other whale watching vessels came then so we went to go look for another whale. This didn´t take us long and we got to see and smell the next Minke Whale and once it came about 15-20 meters from us so that the passengers got a great look. We ended the tour at Akurey Puffin Island and saw not so many as the morning tour but enough nonetheless.

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: We decided to try another area than Hafsúlan was already in. We noticed that almost no birds were around so the food must have been somewhere else. We found one minke whale but it only surfaced once and then it was gone. It was extremely difficult tour but the weather was very nice. Hopefully things will get better soon and we hope to see our passengers again with their complimentary tickets.

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: A cloudy morning but the sea was nice and calm. It did rain a little but mainly it was nice a dry. It was a very difficult morning with regards to the whales and after leaving Puffin Island and seeing loads of Puffins it took us a long time before anything was seen. About 1.5 - 2 hours into the tour we got word from another whale watching vessel about a Minke Whale, we did get to see it but it was very difficult to get closer too as it was very unpredictable and surfaced aways in the distance and in different directions. Obviously not in the whale watching mood and it showed. Time was running out and we had to head back. We did also see 2-3 Harbour Porpoises but again very fast swimming away. We gave out complimentary tickets and wished our passengers a better trip next time around.