Is there a best time of year to see whales? That's a question we are asked quite frequently. Our wildlife research can give us an idea, but in the end it is up to the whales, living freely in our waters.
As we operate daily throughout the year (with permission of favourable weather conditions and the exception of global pandemics), we have the opportunity to encounter whales in differ
Vegna slæms sjólags við gömlu höfnina í Reykjavík í dag, 26 maí 2020, siglir Viðeyjarferjan hvorki í Hörpu né á Ægisgarð. Siglingar eru enn á áætlun frá Skarfabakka hinsvegar og verða áfram í dag skv. áætlun.
Due to unfavourable sea conditions, the Viðey ferry will not stop at Harpa or the Old Harbour today, 26 May 2020. Schedule from Skarfabakki is still going ahead and
Öryggi og ánægja farþegar okkar og áhafnar er alltaf í forgrunni hjá okkur. Því höfum við ákveðið að halda bátunum kyrrsettum við höfnina og er því ÖLLUM ferðum Viðeyjarferjunnar í dag, 24. maí 2020, AFLÝST. Þeir sem eiga miða í ferjuna stendur til boða að velja nýja brottför eða fá endurgreitt að fullu.
The safety and pleasure of our passengers and staff is a major prior
Twenty years ago today, a whale watching company was founded by a family that was eager to combine their interest in wildlife, boats and people. That company went on to grow from a small-scale seasonal business in Sandgerði, to being the biggest boat tour operator in all Iceland; operating year round from Reykjavík and Akureyri!
Three generations have worked together, along with many
During these strange times, our team is working hard behind the scenes to make sure we are better and stronger than ever when we start operating tours again. Over the next few weeks, our team will be sharing some personal insights and stories of themselves on our Facebook page, and let you know wha
Did you know that it is the first day of Summer in Iceland today? The first Thursday after April 18th is Sumardagurinn Fyrsti and a national holiday since 1971. But for many the arrival of summer is marked by another thing than this date – it is the arrival of the bird species Arctic Tern, or Kría in Icelandic.
When a whale is encountered for the first time, it gets a scientific name so it can be identified amongst the hundreds of other individuals we have on file. So why would we give them a second name if they already have one?
One of the reasons is quite simple; they're just a lot easier to remember..
A scientific name consists of the abbreviation of their latin name, date they
With our tours being on halt until further notice, we decided to try something different.. VIRTUAL WHALE WATCHING! We invited our entire Facebook audience on a LIVE STREAM where four of our crew members (Sabrina, Leó, Ottó and Bárður) headed out into Faxaflói bay in search for wildlife. Luc
Is there a better time to see whales? How often this question comes up. And our research team, Rodrigo and Sabrina, have looked at data collected last summer to give us an answer to that. 'Not really'.
While time of the day seems to have no effect on sighting success, many other factors like weather conditions, oceanic currents, location, food availability and even tides
When you think of Iceland's birds, the Atlantic Puffin is likely to be the first one that comes to mind. Their iconic look of a black and white body complimented with a colourful orange beak has even given them the nickname 'the clown of the sea'! Here are 10 facts you may not have known about the Atlantic Puffin..
Did you know that some whales don't have any teeth? Luckily for them, that doesn't mean they can't eat! In fact, they use a method called 'filter feeding', which doesn't require any chewing..
Minke whales and humpback whales are the most common whales in Reykjavík's waters and are cetaceans classified under the parvorder mysticeti, which is a scientific suborder of whales that ha
The safety of our passengers, team and crew members is always our number one priority and therefore we regret to inform you that we have made the decision to bring all our tours to a halt until further notice. In the meantime, we will be preparing for when things are back to normal.
Did you know that Elding's research team has kept a catalogue of every whale spotted on our tours since 2007? So far, we have about 500 humpback whales on file!
Although every new individual gets a scientific name (their species latin name, year, month, date, and number for the order they were seen that day) we also like to give them nicknames. Since last year we added a lot of new wh
Elding has a long standing commitment to reducing its carbon footprint. On board our boats and throughout our premises, we work hard on implementing extensive recycling routines with the assistance of our incredible team of staff and passengers alike.
We had seen an increase in use of single-use coffee cups throughout the years, so we decided to take matters into our own hands. In 201
Öryggi og ánægja farþegar okkar og áhafnar er alltaf í forgrunni hjá okkur. Því höfum við ákveðið að halda bátunum kyrrsettum við höfnina og er því ÖLLUM ferðum Viðeyjarferjunnar í dag, 2. mars 2020, hefur verið AFLÝST. Þeir sem eiga miða í ferjuna stendur til boða að velja nýja brottför eða fá endurgreitt að fullu.
The safety and pleasure of our passengers and staff
A wonderful surprise awaited us in the bay this morning - it was a humpback whale! In the afternoon, we were surprised again by yet another humpback whale! Our research team has since determined that both whales are new to the area. Very exciting!
Since we haven't encountered either whale in the past, this meant two new entries to our whale catalog! The dark fluked whale has
Tonight, 18 February 2020, the Imagine Peace Tower will be lit to commemorate Yoko Ono's 87th birthday!
The tower is illuminated 1 hr. after sunset until midnight from 9 October until 8 December (John Lennon's birthday and day of demise). From Winter Solstice the bea
Whales are migratory animals, meaning they have two places they live in during the year, a feeding ground and a mating ground. Colder climates are generally richer with food and warmer climates more appropriate to birth calves and breed. Most of Iceland's whales will migrate south in winter, which means that the whales we see on our tours here in the summer could be seen in places lik
Öryggi og ánægja farþegar okkar og áhafnar er alltaf í forgrunni hjá okkur. Því höfum við ákveðið að halda bátunum kyrrsettum við höfnina og er því ÖLLUM ferðum Viðeyjarferjunnar í dag, 15. febrúar 2020, hefur verið AFLÝST. Þeir sem eiga miða í ferjuna stendur til boða að velja nýja brottför eða fá endurgreitt að fullu.
The safety and pleasure of our passengers and s
A RED ALERT has been issued by the Icelandic Met Office due to hurricane force winds caused by a storm that is due to hit Iceland on Friday! "The weather is likely to cause extensive transport disturbances and travelling is not advised while the weather warning is in effect. Damage to structures due to wind is possible,
February is here, which means the days are growing longer and mornings are becoming brighter! As of today, we will be sailing twice a day in search for whales and dolphins with departures at 09:00 and 13:00 from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík! Click here to see our schedule and operating times and
Öryggi og ánægja farþegar okkar og áhafnar er alltaf í forgrunni hjá okkur. Því höfum við ákveðið að halda bátunum kyrrsettum við höfnina og er því ÖLLUM ferðum Viðeyjarferjunnar í dag, 25. janúar 2020, hefur verið AFLÝST. Þeir sem eiga miða í ferjuna stendur til boða að velja nýja brottför eða fá endurgreitt að fullu.
The safety and pleasure of our passengers and st
There are over 30,000 white-beaked dolphins in and around Icelandic waters all year round. They are non-migrant, meaning they stay in the same area throughout their lifespan.
Dolphins are highly social animals, but our research shows that they are not fixed to a specific group, but they seem move freely between pods! This is a smart strategy to keep the genetic variabilit
The Viðey ferry is finally up and running again this weekend after the pier on the island broke off in a heavy storm in December. Repairs have been made and the island is ready to receive visitors once again!
Viðey island is a charming piece of land just off Reykjavík
An interesting discovery was made recently by our research team as they looked through last year's encounters. They came to the conclusion that minke whales were our most frequently sighted species in the summer of 2019, or over 522 times!
By implementing the simple, non-invasive method of photo-identification they were able to estimate the actual abundance in Faxaflói. Using it, they
Another day, another storm.. So far this year, all of our whale watching tours have been negatively affected by unfavourable conditions. Yellow and orange alerts have been issued by the Icelandic Met Office day after day and SafeTravel has warned people about road closure
What a year it’s been.. As 2020 is already upon us, we decided to go ahead and look over our highlights and golden moments from 2019!
We started the year with a friendly humpback whale feeding close to the shore almost daily here in Reykjavík. It was truly amazing to see the amazing crea
Bus stop #6 has been closed for a while and passengers have been redirected to bus stop #3 in the meantime. As of now, 20 December 2019, the bus stop #6 is back in operation and guests staying at Canopy by Hilton –Hótel Frón – 101 Hótel, Apartment K – Hverfisgata 14, Apartment K – Ingólfsstræti 1a, Apartment K – Skólastræti 1, Apartment K – Þingholtsstræti 2-4
Our research team just positively identified the male orca we encountered in Faxaflói bay last weekend as the same individual that we encountered in a similar area earlier this year! Interestingly enough, on 28 February the male was seen travelling with another male, but it seems to have returned on 15 December with a juvenile, a female and her calf!
Using photo identification, we are
We are OPEN and operating tours daily throughout the holiday season, as usual! This year, the only difference is that we unfortunately have to CANCEL all Imagine Peace Tower tours, Northern Lights on Viðey and the Viðey ferry, due to the main pier on the island breaking off in a recent storm. Read more about that here:
Aðgengi að Viðey hefur verið lokað í óákveðinn tíma þar sem aðal bryggjan slitnaði í óveðrinu sem gekk yfir landið í vikunni. Unnið er að því að meta skemmdir og gera við, en líklegt er að viðgerðir taki einhvern tíma. Beðist er velvirðingar á truflunum sem þetta kann að valda.
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Viðey island has be closed to visitors until further notice due to the floating pier on the is
Due to highly unstable weather conditions and hurricane force winds, we have decided to close our ticket office early today. We will still be available via email (elding@elding.is) and tel. (00354 519 5000) and all our social media handles if you need to get in touch. Feel free to contact us directly if you have any questions or concerns.
We did it again! Elding has received the Platinum Certification from EarthCheck for 2019, for the 11th year in a row!
The certificate is the highest achievement in EarthCheck's ranking and is awarded to those organisations that successfully meet the environmental requirements with a consistent commitment for 10 years or longer.
EarthCheck offers great tools we work with
Viðeyjar ferjan mun ekki sigla í dag, laugardaginn 7. desember, vegna óhagstæðra veðurskilyrða.
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The ferry to Viðey island will not be sailing today, Saturday 7 December, due to unfavourable weather conditions.
If you're a first time whale watcher it is perfectly normal that you don't exactly know what to look for, but you should know that whale watching with Elding is a team effort and everyone on board is encouraged to help out. There are a few tips and tricks that can help you identify signs of whales and dolphins from a distance, and a few things to keep in mind when venturing out into open seas.<
Since 2007 we have welcomed and provided a platform for marine biologists on board our boats. With help of some amazing researchers we have been able to study the three main encountered species on tour tours; white-beaked dolphins, minke whales and humpback whales. By studying the wildlife we see on our tours, we hope to further understand their social behaviour, feeding habits,
Öryggi og ánægja farþegar okkar og áhafnar er alltaf í forgrunni hjá okkur. Því höfum við ákveðið að halda bátunum kyrrsettum við höfnina og er því ÖLLUM ferðum Viðeyjarferjunnar í dag, 10. nóvember 2019, hefur verið AFLÝST. Þeir sem eiga miða í ferjuna stendur til boða að velja nýja brottför eða fá endurgreitt að fullu.
The safe
