News

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    Fyrirmyndafyrirtæki ársins 2018 Ábyrg ferðaþjónusta

    - Elding

    Undanfarin tvö ár hefur Elding ásamt 300 öðrum fyrirtækjum tekið þátt í hvatningarverkefni um að fyrirtæki tengd ferðaþjónustu sammælist um nokkrar skýrar og einfaldar aðgerðir um ábyrga ferðaþjónustu svo Ísland verði ákjósanlegur áfangastaður ferðamanna um ókomna tíð og styðji við

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    Snæfellsjökull (Snow mountain glacier) often seen on our tours from the city of Reykjavík over Faxa Bay, at a distance of 120 km. The name of the mountain is actually Snæfell (Snow mountain) but it is normally called "Snæfellsjökull" to distinguish it from two other mountains with this name. The mountain is one of the most famous sites of Iceland, primarily due to the novel Journey to the Cente

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    When sailing out from Reykjavik for whale searching, mount Esja, sometimes called "the queen of mountains" (by capital residents) is one of the first things you notice. Esja is not a single mountain, but a volcanic mountain range, made from basalt and tuff. Esja's formation dates back to the beginning of the last Ice Age, the volcano is no longer active. The mountain is one of the most popular

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    Our captain, Gulli, met up with this beautiful humpback whale. It doesn't matter how often you see these giants rising out from the deep, it always gets your heart going good. Still you know, that under the surface, the whale is hiding most of its body as it can reach up to 16m in length (50ft) and can weigh up to 60 tons! These friendly giants rule the oceans as you can find them in every ocea

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    WHITE BEAKED-DOLPHIN

    The white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) is a marine mammal belonging to the family Delphinidae (dolphins) in the suborder Odontoceti
    (toothed whales).

    Its scientific name Lagenorhynchus means bottlenose (lageno - flask or bottle, rhynchus - nose, beak

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    What are the northern lights? The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter earth's atmosphere. The temperature above the sun surface is millions of degrees Celsius. At this temperature, collisions between gas molecules are frequent and explosive particles enter the earth's atmosphere.

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    Unlike most mammals, marine mammals cannot rely on vision and smell as their main senses. The vision is compromised under slow physical movement of the water. Therefore, marine mammals have evolved to use sounds and hearing as their primary means of c

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    Today we celebrated our Nordic Council Environment Prize 2018 nomination by inviting our colleagues in the toursm industry as well as our passengers and anyone else willing and wanting to make the world a bit cleaner to a beach cleaning.

    Among those who helped were our friends from Gray Line, Reykjavík Excursions, Arctic Jet, Dive.is, Erik the Red Guesthouse, Hotel Reykjavík Lights an

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    Elding has been nominated for the Nordic Council Environment Prize 2018! We are nominated for decades of work on the protection of marine environment — which is the title of the environmental prize this year. We, the Elding family, are extremely proud of the nomination.

    The nomination alone is a significant acknowledgment of our environmental work that truly is close to our heart

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    The northern lights are back and the season is already off to a great start! First tour of the winter had great views and sightings of the auroras.

    Book your preferred northern ligths experience here.

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    On July 23, for the first time in the history of Elding whale watching, we came up on a North Atlantic Right whale! one of the most endangered of all large whales It has now been identifide by The Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life as: Mogul a 10 year old male born to Slalom in 20

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    BREAKING NEWS! A first in Elding history; a north atlantic right whale was seen in Reykjavík today, 23 July 2018. 

    It is one of the most endangered of all large whales, with a long history of human exploitation and no signs of recovery despite protection from whaling since the 1930's. The female north atlantic right whale can reach 18 m. and the males strech to 1

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    From our whale diary 13 July 2018: "It was a beautiful individual of basking shark, the first spotted this season. They are only coming close to the surface when is warm enough and this one delighted our trip with very close encounters so we could see his gigantic white mouth while filtrating plankton. A unique experience without any doub

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    Come join us this Saturday on Whale Day where there will be plenty of things to see in and around the Old Harbour.

    Join us in Fífill 'the floating museum' by the Old Harbour and witness the magical world of whales from below sea level and listen to their call. Have some waffles, play games, try our whale cookies, face painting, a treasure hunt (with prizes!) and learn about the wildli

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    Quality & Environmental manager, Sveinn H., accepted the Blue Flag recognition 2018/2019 on behalf of Elding today! We're pleased to see our environmental and sustainable efforts being acknowledged yet again.
     
    Read more about the Blue Flag: elding.is/blue-flag
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    We proudly announce that Elding received Kuðungurinn award for outstanding performance when it comes to environmental issues for the year 2017!

    Elding started paying special attention to environmental issues in 2006 by integrating Green Globe (now EarthCheck) into our daily operations to get a clear insight of the matter within the company. Now, 12 years on, we are still nowhere near

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    PUFFINS have already been spotted in Faxaflói bay!

    Although the season doesn't officially start until mid May, more and more Puffins will travel long distances in the coming days and weeks to nest in burrows on islands just off Reykjavík's Old Harbour where they will stay for the summer! 

    Read more about Puffins: www.elding.is

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    Elding - Viðeyjarstofa Café - Reykjavík City Museum

    The annual easter egg hunt will be held on Viðey island this weekend, 24 March 2018, with ferry sailing from Skarfabakki pier constantly from 12:30 and onwards. The hunt itself will start at 13:30 from Viðeyjarstofa Café.

    This year we will offer limited amount of tickets, so make sure to book your tickets e

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    Time to head back to our home base in Reykjavík as we're expecting quite dull weather on the south side of the peninsula this week.. Join us from the Old Harbour where we sail daily at 9am and 1pm!

    Book online: www.elding.is/winterwhale

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    With the weather being difficult and sightings scarse in Reykjavík, we decided to move our boats to Sandgerði this week to try our luck from there. We heard news from some fishing boats in the are that Orcas and Humpback whales were being sighted frequently, chasing food - so we thought, why not!

    Already we have been sailing from Grindavík and Sandgerði these past few days with great

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    Sometimes we don't have to venture far off shore in search for wildlife!

    This morning we encountered what seemed to be an injured Northern Bottlenose Whale INSIDE the Old Harbour in Reykjavík - perhaps looking for a final resting place?

    Although it looks like it has found its way back to open wat

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    Earlier today our friends at Köfunarþjónusta Sigurðar ehf. successfully pushed the Northern Bottlenose whale, previously seen inside the Old Harbour, off the rocks of Sæbrautin in Reykjavík. It is believed that the whale has some external as well as internal injuries, possibly due to pl

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    We have added an extra whale watching departure on 31 December 2017 at 9:30 AM from Reykjavík. On our last few tours we've seen a couple of different Humpback whales as well as some dolphins and are therefore optimistic of what the next days have in store for us!

    Check our online whale diary here: https://elding.is/whale-diary

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    Happy Holidays one and all

    We would like to take the opportunity to thank you all for the busy year that's soon behind us! Wishing you all the best this holiday season and hope you have a prosperous and joyful New Year!

    The Elding crew

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    Finally - we have our very own COMPLETELY COMPOSTABLE coffee cups and lids available onboard our vessels! But, how are they different from regular coffee ones? The materials come from sustainable resources and are made of all-organic ingredients and rather than being coated with petroleum they are lined with corn.

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    It's been looking quite Christmassy the past couple of days with snow pouring down from the sky left and right. The general athmosphere in the harbour is festive and onboard it's ideal to sit down in our heated lounge with a warm cup of 'Whale Punch' and watch the flakes melt into the sea.. This time of year is definitely on our favourites list!

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    Exciting news - we just learned that we have retained EarthCheck's Gold Certification for the 5th year in a row!

    "Best practice and sustainable initiatives - raising awareness about pollution and its impact on the environment and marine life."

    Read more: https://elding.is/earthcheck

     

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    Í tilefni af fjölskyldudögum í Viðey hefjast ferjusiglingar næstu tvær helgar (4-5 og 11-12 nóvember) kl. 12:15. Njótið dýrindis hádegisverðar í fallegu umhverfi í Viðeyjarstofu!

    Bókið miða í ferjuna: https://elding.is/videy-ferry-skarfabakki

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    The Imagine Peace Tower on Viðey island will be re-lit for the 11th time on 9 October 2017 with a peaceful ceremony starting at 18:30.

    FREE transportation to and from the island: The complimentary city bus will run from Hlemmur to Skarfabakki every 20 min. from 17:45-20:10 and the ferry to Viðey island will run between 18:00-20:30.

    The very next evening, 10 October

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    T'is the season! Auroras have already been spotted overhead late August and we look forward to the coming months. Northern Lights season officially kicks off on Friday, 1 September! Predicted are high activity levels of 5/9 and cloud coverage close to none over the bay. Let's just hope the weather gods are on our side!

    Book your tour here: 

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    Animals can be quite clever and resourceful! Earlier this summer, a young Minke whale in trouble sought the assistance of locals by swimming up close to the harbour in Keflavík and waiting calmly for rescue. It had somehow managed to get tangled in fishing net and seemed to be unable to free itself from it. With a little patience and teamwork from the police and Siggi the dive expert (

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    Extended availability on our Classic Puffin tour from Reykjavík until Monday 21 August! Last chance to view them this year before they fly off South!

    Book here: https://elding.is/reykjavik-classic-puffin-watching

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    Long-Finned Pilot whales were spotted just outside of Keflavík harbour this morning! They are not a common sight on our tours so it really is a treat whenever we hear of them in the area. Last time we saw this species was in late August of 2015 and before that in the summer of 2012 where we assisted in rescuing about 200 of them from stranding near Njarðvík.

    Pilot whales get their nam

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    Dear all

    The authorities of Reykjavik City announced earlier this summer that changes would be made for tour bus traffic in Reykjavik City Centre, effective from 15th of July.

    The area where busses are not allowed to drive has been increased in size, and locations, numbers and names of the designated bus stops have been changed.

    For hotels outside the restricted ar

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    Our friends at IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) are looking for volunteers this season! Are you interested or know anyone who would be willing to join the program? Check out the link below and see what it's all about: www.vive.is/mudeu/

    They're also looking for signatures for their petition to hopefully increase the whale sanctuary

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    A few weeks ago our Quality and Environmental Manager Sveinn gave an interview to Animal Tourism Finland where he discussed our day to day operations while working under strict sustainability and environmental guidelines.

    Check out the full interview via YouTube: 

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    Hlökkum til að sjá ykkur um helgina!

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    Today, 19 May 2017, some of our office staff took part in the Landvernd beach cleaning project! We went to the nearby area of Laugarnes and picked up several kilos of general waste and plastic. Well done team!

    Read more about the project here: http://landvernd.is/frettir/Hreinsum-Island-Strandh

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    Now summer season is upon us and we are now sailing everyday from Akureyri. Daily departures on big boats at 9am and 1pm and on RIB's at 10am and 2pm!

    Book express tour here: https://elding.is/akureyri-express-whale-watching

    Book your classic your here: 

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    We proudly announce that we received the Blue Flag (2017) for the second time under the new criteria! All in all, 30 boats in Iceland received the recognition this year, of which, 6 are Elding's!

    "For the coastal environment, water quality, safety and access for all: the Blue Flag represents a serious and profound commitment to both people and the environment."

    We feel honor