Monday, 15 September 2025

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR |17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00, 12:00, 15:00

Report from Eldey: We sailed out onto a calm bay under cloudy skies. Immediately after leaving the harbour, we spotted a curious little grey seal sniffing around the breakwater. A very good start to the tour! As we continued on, out into the bay, we spotted a big splash underneath a flock of seabirds, a lunge feeding minke whale! Very special to see this feeding behaviour so up-close from this typically very elusive species! We also spotted some dark fins slicing through the water ahead, a pod of about white-beaked dolphins! This large pod had at least one calf, what a lucky find! It appeared that a feast was beginning beneath surface, as we also spotted another minke joining in as well. As we continued on, we had a couple of blows ahead of us, 2 pairs of humpback whales, and another minke whale beneath a large flock of seabirds, it seemed we had found the ultimate breakfast spot in the bay for this morning. We stayed with the pair of humpbacks closest to us, which began lunge feeding and bubble-net feeding mere meters from out boat! As we stayed in this very busy area, we saw a total of 5-6 humpbacks and 3-4 more minkes. We also had a pod of 3-4 harbour porpoises join in! We saw a variety of feeding behaviours from all species, as well as a massive tail-slap and pec-slap from one of the humpbacks, which appeared to be especially energetic and playful this morning! We continued on, to see what else the bay had in store, and immediately spotted another humpback, another pod of 5-6 white-beaked dolphins and another pod of 3-4 harbour porpoises! 

- Emily Erskine

Report from Eldey: We sailed out onto a flat, smooth bay under grey clouds. As we were heading out, we encountered 3-4 harbour porpoises and 2-3 minke whales, spread out along the way. While we were trying to catch a few quick glimpses of these elusive species, we had 2 huge plashes up ahead, a pair of humpback whales breaching twice! We quickly made our way over and were treated to a trio of humpbacks lunge feeding and bubble-net feeding next to us! As we watched this scene unfold in awe, we had another humpback making its way over to this feast, joining the trio for a brief feeding session, and a 5th humpback feeding alone nearby. We also had 5-6 minke whales appearing and disappearing nearby and in the distance all around, sometimes creating big waves on the surface as they lunged underwater as well. The harbour poropises were also present and accounted for, with a large pod of 18 making splashes up ahead, clearly joining in on the feeding frenzy. As time ran out, we had to turn around and head back, waving goodbye to the fluke diving humpbacks and had some sneaky minkes and harbour porpoises appearing briefly on the way back.

- Orsi Stipsicz

Northern fulmar, Northern gannet, common guillemot, black-headed gull, greater and lesser black-backed gull, razorbill, eider duck, black-legged kittiwake, raven