Whale diary

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    humpback whale fluke canvas
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    We sailed out on this very calm sea until we spotted a pod of 8-9 white-beaked dolphins. This pod was on the hunt and even had a calf that was probably learning a lot. We continued and soon saw the blow of a humpback whale. The whale was diving and moving a lot but we could still see it's fluke a few time which allowed us to identify it as Canvas!

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    humpback whale fluke
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    This sunny and afternoon we sailed out and soon spotted a big blow, and went to investigate - it was a humpback whale! This whale was extremely active, showing us its pectoral fins as well as tail slapping and making lots of splashes! After a while we saw another blow from another humpback whale that surprised us by coming close to our boat.

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    humpback whale
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    We spotted small splashes on the water, giving out the location of 2 harbour porpoises passing by. As we continued our journey, we saw many big blows and we quickly saw that we had at 5-6 humpback whales in the same area. They were all busy feeding, taking short deep dives, coming to the surface quickly to lunge feed and take a breath!

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    humpback whale dorsal fin
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    We first checked around Viðey to see if Flak was there, but we could not find it, but in stead we saw a grey seal! We then sailed further North into the bay to explore an area where another boat had spotted some blows in the distance and that's where we found them - in all, there were about 4 different humpback whales and we got a good look at two of them! 

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    esjan winter snow
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    As we sailed out we could admire all the snow covered mountains surrounding the bay. We saw seabirds including some very cute guillemots and razorbills. A gannet also passed close above our heads at one stage which was nice. We continued our search, but no cetaceans appeared so we gave out complimentary tickets so everyone can come back again.

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    esjan in the sunrise
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    As we were about to leave the harbour, snow started falling! We saw a big flock of birds and 5 harbour porpoises swimming around and feeding. We ventured further out and eventually we found a very elusive humpback whale. Due to the difficult sighting however, we gave complimentary tickets to all our passengers.

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    hallgrimskirkja as seen from the sea
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    The weather was fantastic this afternoon, with no wind and no waves coming out of the harbour. Only 10 minutes into the tour we saw 3 harbour porpoises that quickly swam away from the boat. We continued our journey, scanning the whole bay, but we didn't have any luck so we gave out complimentary tickets!

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    keilir mountain in the sunset
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    Today was our first day with only one tour per day. This, combined with the cold winds on our faces, told us that winter is officially here! We started our journey by covering first the area next to Esja mountain, however, we didn't end up seeing any signs of cetaceans today, so we decided to give out complimentary tickets to all our passengers!

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    sunset in reykjavik
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    On this final morning tour of the year we came across many seabirds but unfortunately the whales remained elusive. The sun continued to strongly shine on our faces as we saw a fast harbour porpoise passing by in the afternoon. We covered many areas, however we didn't encounter anything worthwhile today so we decided to give out complimentary tickets!

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    sunrise in reykjavik
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    The swell was still present this morning but the sunrise was gorgeous. We only saw a pod of 4 harbour porpoises during the way back and in the afternoon we found a humpback whale, but it came up only once. In the end we handed out complimentary tickets on both tours due to the difficult encounters, in hopes to see all our passengers another time.

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    humpback whale fluke
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    We sailed out this morning facing cold winds and headed straight into the bay. We spotted a few white-beaked dolphins and a minke whale as well, but decided to hand out complimentary tickets as both encounters were quite short lived. In the afternoon we did not need to go very far to spot a large blow of a humpback whale and managed to watch it dive a few times.

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    jumping dolphin
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    Following a few splashes in the distance we located a big pod of 10-12 white-beaked dolphins this morning and additionally found a shy humpback whale that never showed its fluke. In the afternoon, we found a couple of pods of white-beaked dolphins and at one point there were at least 15-20 individuals all around the boat!

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    reykjavik hallgrimskirkja
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    After a while of sailing, we saw lots of birds and a minke whale came up quite close. We then found a humpback whale that was deep diving and a pod of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins. In the afternoon we found 3 harbour porpoises and 6 white-beaked dolphins but we offered complimentary tickets so our passengers can try their luck again another time!

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    humpback whale feeding with mouth open at surface surrounded by birds
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    The sunrise created pink and orange clouds as we sailed out this morning. We arrived in an area with a lot of birds and soon spotted a pod of 3 white-beaked dolphins, then a feeding humpback whale and a minke whale. In the afternoon we saw 3 harbour porpoises and a small humpback whale, but was tricky to follow so we gave out complimentary tickets.

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    videy island in winter
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    We explored areas further into the bay this morning and found a pod of 6-8 feeding white-beaked dolphins. In the afternoon, we spotted 6 seals (one of which jumped completely out of the water!), and after a while searching we spotted a blow and the dorsal fin of a humpback whale, but ultimately decided to offer complimentary tickets due to the quick encounter.

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    birds flying in the winter sun
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    There was a bit of wind and some swell leftover from the stormy days before but the sun was shining beautifully. We spotted a grey seal and a solo harbour porpoise in the morning, however we did not have any luck for the rest of the day and therefore we offered all our passengers today complimentary tickets, for a second chance of seeing the wildlife in our bay.
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    Dark clouds with exclamation point.
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    • CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 9:00,13:00

    Due to unfavourable weather conditions, we are forced to CANCEL all whale watching tours from Reykjavík today!

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    humpback whale lunge feeding
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    We saw a black object and we couldn't decipher what it was until we got closer, it turned out to be a small zodiac with 4 surfers trying to catch some waves - a very odd find! The course was then set to investigate further and eventually we found our resident humpback whale Flak! The afternoon tour was unfortunately cancelled due to weather.

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    humpback whale
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    We saw a blow towards Viðey, it was Flak the humpback whale doing a peduncle throw! Then after this they came within metres of our boat, it was so so close. In the afternoon we decided to go in the inside part of Videy, very close of Reykjavik, and there was Flak the humpback whale. We also spotted a grey seal showing its head a few times having a look at us.

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    humpback whale
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    We sailed out in the morning and only 20 min later spotted Flak, our winter humpback whale. With the sun present it was significantly 'warmer' as we sailed out this afternoon. We quickly spotted Flak the humpback whale swimming around Engey and went to have a closer look and also saw 2 harbour porpoises that were jumping out the water!