A pod of about 40 long-finned PILOT WHALES were spotted close to Reykjavík today! They are not very common in this area as they tend to stay further offshore and in deeper waters, but we have seen them in the bay on a few occasions throughout the years.
Pilot whales are a large species of oceanic dolphin, pod animals, that have a leader whom they follow. They are a stranding concern s
White-beaked dolphins have been a focus species of our research since 2007, just like the humpback whales and minke whales. We mainly collect our data for them in Faxaflói but that is not always easy, as the white-beaked dolphins can be so fast in their movements that getting a photo of their dorsal fin at the right angle and at the right time requires quite a bit of practice
A very special encounter in Faxaflói bay, Friday 12 July 2019; a humpback mother and her calf ventured into the bay to everyone's surprise!
Humpback whales are polygamous mammals that become sexually mature at around 5-7 years of age. They have one of the most complicated courtships in the animal kingdom that entails in the males singing and chasing after the females. The pursuit can
Summer is here and with it comes our busiest season!
What to do in Reykjavík you might ask? Well, in July we have departures running from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík on an hourly basis and even more frequently than that somtimes. Our tours range from whale watching to puffin watching and sea angling - something to suit everyone.
On 23 July 2018, for the first time in Elding's history, we came up on a north atlantic right whale - one of the most endangered of all large whales. There have only been three different right whales identified off Iceland in the last 30 years, so this was truly a unique encounter!
Here are some fun facts about the whales in our waters!
*There are two types of whales - toothed and baleen plate whales!
*Blue whales are the biggest animals to have ever lived on the planet! That's bigger than any dinosour we know of!
*Genitals of male whales are tucked inside of them when they aren't mating! This allows them to swim faster
Today not only marks 75 years of Iceland's independence from Denmark but also the first time in over 20 years that blue whales have been encountered in Faxaflói bay! We have seen blue whales on our tours before when we have sailed from the West and South coast of Reykjanes peninsula and also a few times from Akureyri North-Iceland, but never from Reykjavík..
The following are updates due to unforeseen closures and construction in the city centre to prevent any misunderstandings regarding pickup places:
*Bus stop #4 is temporarily closed due to construction work. We ask our passengers to go to bus stop #1 until it opens again.
*Bus stop #7 will be closed as of 20 May 2019. We ask our passengers go to bus stop #14 in stead.
EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA! Additional departure at 20:30, 7 June 2019. Watch the whales as the sun kisses the sea on this special evening cruise in Faxaflói bay. Book here: elding.is/midnight-sun
Today is another great day in Elding's sustainability timeline - we received the Icelandic quality label Vakinn and Gold certification in their environmental program!
It was an honour to be the first company to receive the recognition from the agency that did the onsite audit this year and we take great pride in this achievement.
As always, we encourage our friends and partn
The safety of our passengers has always been a number one priority for us! Today, the conditions in the bay were turning unfavourable so we decided to cancel the day's remaining whale watching tours - and rather than taking the afternoon off, the crew carried out a safety drill on board Eldey! This we do on a regular basis to better understand the boats we work on and figure out how we can work
Our summer schedule is now in place with multiple tours departing from the Old Harbour daily! Additional departures at 10:00 and 14:00 in June, July and August! Classic Whale Watching is a great way to spend a half-day at sea surrounded by beautiful landscape and watching whales and birds in their natural environment.
Elding began its dedicated research of the three main encountered species, white-beaked dolphins, minke whales and humpback whales, in the year 2007. Our research area is within the bay of Faxaflói, just outside of Reykjavík, and is conducted during our daily whale watching tours.
Our head research coordinate recently wrote an article on the humpb
Due to unforseen circumstances the ferry to Viðey island will not be running on 28 May 2019. We will resume sailing according to plan on 29 May 2019. Apologies for any inconvenience this change in schedule may cause!
We're honoured and pleased to announce that we have reached 'HALL of FAME' status for achieving the certificate of excellence for five consecutive years on TripAdvisor! A big thank you to all our passengers who have taken the time to give us an honest feedback over the years: bi
The Elding team is a group of enthusiastic nature lovers and environmentalists that together have participated in the 'Cleanup Iceland' project for 3 years in a row now. It has always been important to us to keep our environment clean for the sake of the wildlife at our shores and in our oceans.
This year we invited our friends and partners to join us on Viðey to clean up trash
Minke whales are known to be somewhat elusive animals with the occasional exception. This one was quite social, curious and interested to check out our boat Hafsúlan! Much to our passengers delight, the whale stayed around the boat for a while and we were able to see its whole body just under the water's surface. BEAUTIFUL!
Video by cpt. Ottó:
The Viðey Ferry is now running according to our summer schedule with daily departures going from the Old Harbour, Harpa Concert Hall and Skarfabakki pier to the charming island of tranquility and peace! Hourly departures starting at 10:15-17:15 from 15 May - 30 September.
Schedule & departure times: elding.is/videy-ferry
F
A humpback whale was spotted WITHIN the harbour walls of Reykjavík in the early hours of Saturday! Rare, although not unheard of, whales sometimes venture close to shores and into marinas as a result of following food. The whale didn't seem to be hurt or in distress, just feeding among the marooned boats and ships and thankfully it found its way out of the harbour again a cou
It's almost summer now which means that our boats are getting a well deserved pampering and overhaul on the dry dock after a busy winter season. The boats will be serviced as needed and the outside will be re-painted in 'Elding red' to make them fresh looking again for the upcoming season!
Harbour seals are quite common here in Faxaflói and are often seen poking their heads out of the water close to the few small islands just off Reykjavík that are inhabited puffins in the summer. They tend to stick to familiar resting spots near rocky areas where they are protected from adverse weather conditions and safe from the threats of bigger animals.
They are most commonly brown
It's been an incredible past few weeks in Faxaflói bay and there seem to be plenty of fish still around for the whales to feed on. We've seen humpback whales in numbers; diving, feeding and showing off to our passengers on nearly every tour since early April!
Humpback whales weren't so common in the Reykjavík area a few years back, but now many of them seem to be returning each summer
Elding has a supported whale research by local and international scientists for years and sometimes they join us onboard to study the whales in Faxaflói bay. Today we had a couple of cetologists out on one of our RIB's to get a bit closer to the humpback whales as they were taking biopsy samples from them.
The sun has finally arrived in Reykjavík and our Sea Angling Gourmet tours are up and running again for the summer! Departures are daily at 09:00 and 13:30 from the Old Harbour, just minutes away from the city centre. Don't miss out on the chance to reel in a fresh fish like a real Icelandic fisherman on the traditional oak vessel SAGA. BBQ your catch on board as light lunch and take the rest w
THE PUFFINS HAVE ARRIVED!
Due to the early arrival of these sweet birds we have decided to start the season ahead of schedule. Rather than starting 1 May like we normally would, we will be operating from the 24 April this year.
Join us for a chance to view the magnificent 'clowns of the sea' in their natural habitat! elding.
PÁSKAR - PÁSKAR - PÁSKAR
Næstkomandi laugardag, 13. apríl 2019, býður Elding upp á árlega páskaeggjaleit í Viðey í samstarfi við Viðeyjarstofu, Borgarsögusafn Reykjavíkur og súkkulaðigerðina Góu.
Það er ekkert þátttökugjald í leitinni en gestir greiða ferjugjald sem er 1,600 kr.-, 50% afsláttur fyrir börn 7-17 ára og frítt fyrir þau yngstu.
Fyrsta ferjan siglir frá
FINALLY, RIB SEASON IS HERE!
Premium Whale Watching is a small-group tour on specially modified speed-boats and is the ultimate way to watch whales and dolphins in their natural habitat. It is undoubtedly the most up close and personal wildlife experience available from Reykjavík.
Zoom through the waters across Faxaflói bay, with the mountains on the horizon. Learn all
Puffins are part of the Auk family of seabirds that also include razorbills and guillemots. They are quite small in size; only 30 cm. in length, weighing 400 gr. with a wingspan of 55 cm. They feed on sandeels, capelin and herring but seem to be decreasing in numbers over the last few years due to the lack of food in the bay caused by increasing water temperatures. They are consi
After a few days with no sightings of whales, it was refreshing to go out this morning to witness a humpback whale lunge feeding! elding.is/thursday-7-march-2019
"Lunge feeding could be regarded as a kind of inverted suction feeding, during which a whale takes a huge gulp of water, which is then filtered through the balee
What a pleasant surprise! Two male orcas / killer whales were seen swimming together on our 13:00 tour on the last day of February 2019. They are not residents of the area and not really a common visitors either, although we see them a few times a year; in winter and most often again in summer. They tend to stay closer to the North of Snæfellsnes penins
Elding has now achieved the PLATINUM CERTIFICATE of EarthCheck which is the highest certification in their ranking! It is awarded to those organisations that successfully meet the environmental requirements with a consistent commitment for 10 years. We are proud to be the ONLY EarthCheck certified whale watching company in the entire world - a great achievement for an
That's right! We've encountered our first minke whale of 2019. Unusual that, since minke whales are "supposed to" come back from migration around march, but it seems that this individual is just back a bit earlier than customary. Great news for us since we've missed this species not having seen many since last autumn!
Read more about the tour: eld
Our love for whales and wildlife has spread! In summer of 2016 we started operating whale watching tours from down town Akureyri. Now a couple of years later, we have merged with another boat operator in the area so we can provide a greater variety of services and higher quality tours.
Hunting the aurora lights by boat gives you more comfort. On the boat we have a heated inside seating area where we also sell light refreshments and hot drinks. Our boats have great 360° viewing platform for searching for the lights and expert aurora guides that help you enjoy the lights to the fullest. You can borrow our free overa
Unspoiled nature reigns on island of Viðey, which has a unique place in Icelandic history. Birdlife abounds on the island, while outstanding works of modern art also make their mark.
Viðey was inhabited from soon after the settlement ofIceland around 900 AD. In 1225 a
Most modern classifications split the minke whale into two species, the Antarctic minke whale sometimes called the southern minke whale and the Common minke whale or northern minke whale found f.ex. around Iceland.
The minke whale is the smallest member of the rorquals and the second smalles
Matching humpback whale flukes can be simple, especially after our scientists have done the preparatory work for us. Humpback whales have a unique pigmentation pattern on the underside of their tail (flukes) much like a "thumbprint" that allows us to identify individual animal
Humpbacks in hunting mode usually take a good dive, by lifting their fluke and swimming down to the deep for food. Once they have found their prey, usually krill or small fish like mackerel, they increase their speed and just before they reach their prey, they open their mouth and because they ar
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 12–16 m (39–52 ft) and weigh around 25–30 metric tons (28–33 short tons).
Humpbacks are found in every ocean and seas around the world and have the longest migration route of any mamma
