Saturday, 19 July 2025

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 20:30
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR |10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 20:00

Report from Eldey: The recent volcanic eruption has created some air pollution and the visibility was limited as we headed out in to Faxaflöi. Gradually, it started to improve and the flat calm sea was ideal for sightings. Before long we spotted a small dorsal fin. We had two harbour porpoises swimming in formation, and enjoyed some good sightings as they slowly cruised around, seemingly unbothered by our boat. On progressing further into the Bay we saw some larger dorsal fins, this time belonging to white beaked dolphin. Two individuals were milling around, possibly searching for food. Towards the horizon we could see seabirds including diving gannets, and as we headed towards them it became clear that there must be some good food underwater. Before long we caught sight of a minke whale, but this was just the first. After sighting a humpback blow we approached closer and as we did so, the humpback began to breach! Then we watched as the humpback started lungefeeding right in front of our vessel. We were now surrounded by feeding birds, several minke whales and no less than three humpbacks, two of which were swimming together for a period of time, showing us their wonderful flukes each time they dived. We noticed a streak of red brown in the water and initially thought it was whale faeces, which is a really important biological nutrient for the ocean. On closer inspection we realised that the water was being discoloured by krill. Krill is a small pink coloured crustacan, similar to a small shrimp. It plays a vital part of the oceanic food chain and is abundant in polar waters. All of the wildlife we could see in our vicinity were feeding on these tiny krill, from the small Arctic terns to the big humpback whales. A fantastic sight to see the krill in such abundance that they change the colour of the water, and great to know there is so much food in the water for the wildlife we watch.

- Rach

Report from Hafsulan: Sailing out this morning, the fog in the air would've make us think twice about venturing in the bay. Quite on the contrary, we ended up having an incredible tour, starting with 2 harbour porpoises! With over 15 minke whales roaming around us through the tour, we managed to see 5 humpback whales, 2 of which kept together, lunge feeding and showing their bellies quite often, a rare sight that we all enjoyed. As we headed back and found our last humpback, we even managed to pass by 2 pods of white-beaked dolphins, making the list of species to see complete. What a spectacular tour!

-Orsi Stipsicz

Report from Eldey: The fog was lying like a blanket over the bay today due to the late volcanic activity and our surrounding mountains were nowhere to be seen. In a distance we spotted a very big blow and it could only mean one thing, a humpback whale. We got to stay with this individual for a long time. It was easy to follow and only went for short dives, showing its beautiful tail fluke often. During this visit, we had many minke whales passing by, many of them that came up multiple times and even fairly close to the boat. We had an estimated number of 5 minke whales in this area. Likewise we had two or three more humpback whales close by that we could see fluke diving. There were a lot of birds with fish in their beaks, so most likely a good feeding area. We saw dorsal fins in the distance and headed there. This turned out to be a pod of around 10 white beaked dolphins. Some of them were babies and some started jumping as well, a very beautiful sight. We headed back in the volcanic fog after a wonderful day at sea.

-Frida Skarfors

Report from Hafsulan: We sailed into the bay under clearing skies, but still into a thick fog on calm waters. We headed far out, and soon enough, had our first sightings of minke whales popping up all around us. A great sign of plenty of food in the area, along with the excited seabirds, so we continued on. We spotted some large blows in the distance, 3 humpback whales going for some gorgeous fluke dives. We headed closer for a better look, and spent a lovely couple of minutes with these whales before spotting some white-beaked dolphins splashing about. We headed over to this pod of 5-7, and then over to one of the other humpbacks in the area. As we headed back towards the harbour, we got to spend another couple minutes with yet another pod, this one made up of 8-9 individuals. What a lovely tour!

- Alex Paumier

Report from Elding: The fog had thickened a bit more but the seas were still flat as could be. On this tour we first spotted a pod of white beaked dolphins, but we got quickly distracted by some big blows. We could then quickly tell these blows belonged to some humpback whales! In total we saw 3 humpbacks, one of them diving a bit longer, but the other 2 were feeding closer to the surface and we even saw them lungefeeding! During this spectacle we also saw about 6 minke whales in the area, some of them we saw only once, others came very close to our boat though in the midst of their very own feeding session. Time flew by as we admired all this wildlife around us and before we knew it we had to start  heading back towards Reykjavik, concluding our night out at sea.

- Milan Vansteelandt

Northern fulmar, Northern gannet, black legged kittiwake, lesser& greater black backed gull, Eider duck, oystercatcher, storm petrel, common guillemot, Arctic skua, North Atlantic puffin