Friday, 29 August 2025

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 19:30
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR |17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR |10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:00, 19:00

Report from Eldey: This morning we sailed out under very serene conditions: glass-like sea, no wind, and light gray clouds covering some of the blue sky. As we headed out, we were intercepted by a rather calm minke whale, giving us a good look at this normally elusive species. We then headed towards some larger blows in the distance, a very relaxed humpback whale logging on the surface. Not just any humpback, out beloved Davy Jones II! We spent a lovely couple minutes with this sleepy rascal, being treated to a really close look as well as some lovely fluke dives. We then spotted some tiny dark shapes behind the wake of another boat, 5-6 tiny harbour porpoises. They quickly fled the scene, living up to their shy and elusive reputation. We, however, already had our eyes on some dark dorsal fins slicing through the surface, a pod of 7 white-beaked dolphins! They gave us quite a treat, surfacing in perfect sync, and coming closer to inspect our boat. Off in the distance, we had a wonderful rainbow, and directly in front, some huge splashes from a very active humpback, breaching, tail-slapping, making quite a commotion. Once we had our fill of dolphins, we started making our way over to this very active whale, but we were intercepted by some other humpbacks and minkes in the area, so we decided to take a closer look. This decision really paid off, as we witnessed an absolute feeding frenzy, lunging minkes, bubble-netting lunge feeding humpbacks in every direction! We stayed in this very busy area as long as possible, before we had to start heading back, greeted by some more minkes on their way to the frenzy as well as a sneaky pair and a solitary harbour porpoise for good measure. What an unforgettable experience!

- Orsi Stipsicz

Report from Hafsulan: With sunny skies we wet sail out into the harbor. It was not too long until we stumbled across a pod of 3 harbor porpoises. With super calm seas it was easy to track these normally elusive cetaceans. As we passed on by we also spotted one minke whale. This minke was a bit elusive and so we kept going. Suddenly in the distance we spotted the blows of four humpback whales! At the start it was three feeding together in a new feeding method for this area, known as bubble net feeding. The fourth humpback then joined and from then on we had amazing viewing of this continuous feeding. It was amazing to see their faces as they lungeed up out of the water. There was one point where we could see the sand eels they had scared up to the surface. We could then see their entire bodies through the water and they gave us a bit of a boat inspection!  It is always wonderful when they get as curious about us as we are about them. We also had about three more minke whales surfacing periodically throughout this viewing. After a beautiful fluke dive from three of our humpbacks we waved them goodbye and headed to port. On our way we spotted one solitary and a pod of two more harbor porpoises! What a truly special tour.

-Samantha Smith

Report from Eldey: We headed out into the calm bay under light cloud cover and mild wind. Our first sighting was a shy little harbour porpoise in the distance, very elusive, always such a pleasure to see. Continuing on, we then came across a minke whale with a rather unique dorsal fin. Another species known to be shy and elusive near boats, it was such a treat to get a nice close-up look at this individual. Throughout the tour, at least 10 minke whales popped up through the surface at various distances. Further, we spotted 2 blows of humpback whales close to other whale watching operators, but decided to continue further out to hopefully be able to spend time alone with the animals. We spotted two pods of 8-12 white-beaked dolphins jumping about and stopped to have a look. Soon, our eyes were drawn to a group of 3 large blows nearby, which were of of humpback whales. As we headed over, we realized it was 2 pairs of these large whales, one of which was our well known Davy Jones 2. We stayed with these calm, restful whales, being treated to some wonderful fluke dives and some lazy logging. The two pairs split up and one of the individuals in one of the pods started breaching a couple of times. We continued on to find yet another humpback whale that we could watch logging and fluke dive a few times, before it was time to start making our way back towards the harbour. 

- Maja Andersson

Report from Hafsulan: As some clouds set in, we bundled up and set sail out into the bay. As we were leaving port we spotted one harbour seal. This seal was a very cute surprise and we waved to it as we kept on moving. After traveling for a little while out into the bay, we came across three solitary minke whales. One of these minkes came super close to give us a bit of a boat inspection, which was wonderful. In the distance we spotted a blow and went to check it out. When we arrived we realized we had found three humpback whales! There was also a fourth one off in the distance. It was amazing to see their bodies through the water and track them by their white pectoral fins. We got to see their classic humpback whale tails as they went for a deeper dive. These three humpbacks were very sleepy and were resting on the surface, which allowed for consistent viewing. We could even see some bubbles being blown as they breathed out, very adorable. After multiple surface sequences we waved our sleepy humpbacks goodbye and went to check out that fourth humpback in the distance. When we arrived we were treated to a few close surface sequences before the time came for us to head back to port. What a wonderful tour.

-Maria Ernesto

Report from Elding: Our evening tour today went out with calm and flat seas. We had a light, continuous raining throughout the tour, but this did not stop our crew and passengers from searching for wildlife. As we were sailing in the Faxafloi bay, accompanied by an amazingly orange sunset, we sighted our first species. This was a large group of 20 to 30 white-beaked dolphins, being very social and bold. As we approached, they immediately rushed towards our ship's bow and started interacting with us, through bow-riding and breaches. We then left them and went to an area where 4 or 5 minke whales were feeding, as well as 2 humpback whales. The humpbacks were diving for long periods, barely giving us the chance to see them at the surface. The minkes on the other hand, were very active tonight, with some large ones (almost 10 meters long) surfacing very close to our ship, showing their beautiful, pointy dorsal fin gliding through the water. Overall, a very good tour with minke whales and white-beaked dolphins as stars of the show.

- Ricardo

Northern fulmar, greater and lesser black-backed gull, common guillemot, black guillemot, Northern gannet, purple sandpiper, black-legged kittiwake, black-headed gull, common gull