Saturday, 28 July 2012

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: Despite nice weather and relatively good conditions we saw no whales this evening. Few birds were on the bay and because of low clouds at the end of the tour, it got dark early, making it difficult to spot the few puffins that were at the puffin island Lundey. Needless to say this was a very disappointing tour. We gave out complimentary tickets and wish our passengers better luck next time.

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: After a very special day we decided to head to the same area we saw our minke whale in the morning. Once we were in the area we spotted a small pod of white-beaked dolphins! These were very playful, jumping out of the water over and over again! We stayed with them for quite some time but after a while it was time to head further out. We searched in a very large area this afternoon. After a long time we found another pod of white-beaked dolphins but these dolphins disappeared very soon. We did not find our dear minke whales this time but we managed to find two pods of the dolphins!

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: What an incredible and inspiring tour. We heard of a large pod of Pilot whales that were close to land at Njarðvík (near Keflavík international Airport) that may need our help. Pilot Whales are reknowned for stranding (beaching themselves) in large numbers in many places of the world, but Iceland not so many. It happened at Þorlákshöfn in 1986 where 100 Pilot whales were found dead on the beach as residents woke up and in Njarðvík in 1957 where 100 pilot whales were found close to the harbour and then pushed onto the beaches for consumption and also once in the1875 as far as we know so todays experience was one to go down in Elding history. Once we got there after about 2 hours sailing, and a quick stop with a Minke Whale, we noticed how close the 200 or so pilot whales were actually to the coast. We couldn´t get inbetween them and land to push them out but soon another smaller boat came that was able to scare them away from land and then we could get inbetween to help push them further into the bay into deeper waters were they are more comfortable. The whales were obviously stressed but we had no choice as it would benefit them in the long run. After a while of pushing these whales further out we felt comfortable that they were a safe distance from land and so felt comfortable for leaving them. The passengers had a rare experience on this tour but how many people can say that they have helped save 200 Pilot Whales on a whale watching tour.

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It is almost impossible to describe our special midday tour with the right words. We heard that a big group of pilot whales were seen close to land near Keflavík. Although this is very far from our Reykjavík harbour we decided to go to this area in order to look for these special guests in our bay. It took us 1 1/2 hours to reach this place but it was absolutely worth. There was a group of 200 pilot whales. All were very close to each other and they were only 10 or 20 meters from land. They were permanently surfacing the water, they scoped with their heads above water and some of them also beat their flippers onto the surface of the sea. It was an impressive nature spectacle. On the one hand we were simply speechless and enjoyed what we saw on the other hand it was very strange to see so many whale so close to land.

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: The weather was stunning this morning, perfect to go whale watching. calm seas, blue skies and great visability so that you could see Snæfellsjökull. We didn´t have to sail long before we came to a small pod of maybe 2-3 Harbour Porpoises but they were up only twice and then gone again. We continued and before long White-beaked Dolphins, 1 o´clock there must of been about 5-8 in this pod. To start they were quite elusive and difficult to follow so we were going to leave them to it but just as we were leaving they showed up again and then they seemed ok and came quite close to the boat. Whilst watching the dolphins we also saw a Minke Whale but quite far away which we would get closer too after watching the dolphins for a bit longer. After the dolphins, however, we decided to head further offshore which was great because we saw a Minke Whale in the distance and then another showed up closer and after a while of watching it surfaced just 2-3 meters from the boat. We ended the tour at Lundey to see all the puffins before heading back to the harbour. Incredible tour, lets hope that the abundance of wildlife will continue from now on.

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: What a beautiful day! The sun was shining and the sea conditions were just perfect! In this tour we saw in total 3 species! We started with a wonderful minke whale! It was so lovely to see it surface in the calm sea with the sun on its' back. We saw the big blow from it when it came up from a deeper dive and then the black back and the dorsal fin. We could even hear it breath! After a very nice moment with the minke whale we headed further out and we were not disappointed! A group of white-beaked dolphins were around and it is always very nice to spot them. After a while it was time for us to head back but on the way few harbour porpoises popped up right next to us! A wonderful morning out on Faxaflói bay.

Birds seen on these tours include; Puffins, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Arctic Terns, Arctic Skuas, Eider Ducks, Seagulls, Fulmars, Greylag Geese, Common Guillemots, Black Guillemots and Cormorants.