The Harbour Porpoise is the smallest and most abundant cetacean around Iceland. They are usually shy but occasionally they come and play around the boats. They can be relatively hard to spot from a distance due to their size and their abundance depends entirely on the food availability of our shores since they are opportunistic feeders. 

The white-beaked dolphin is the most common dolphin found in the surrounding waters of Iceland and is seen not only in the summer but winter too usually in larger numbers, hundreds sometimes. When feeding they show energetic behaviour such as breaching out of the water and coming down with a big splash and bursts of fast swimming. 

The Minke Whale is the most common whale around Iceland and actually the world thus it is one of the main species we encounter on our whale watching tours. It is one of few species that don’t mind coming to shallower waters like here in Faxaflói Bay to feed on the abundant food available to them.

We used to see them occasionally when we first started operating out of Sandgerði but Faxaflói is too shallow but it is not impossible to see them when going from harbours on the other side of the Reykjanes.

This species is endemic to the temperate waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, but is not seen often on our tours.

It can be easy to mistake Atlantic white-sided dolphins for the closely related and more commonly observed white-beaked dolphin but the former is somewhat smaller and the back, fluke, flippers, and dorsal fin being black while their belly is white.

Currently, we know of over 90 different species of Whales, dolphins and Porpoises collectively called cetaceans. These range from the largest animal that has ever lived on our planet the Blue Whale to the smallest the Hectors dolphin. They are found in every one of our oceans and even some of our rivers. Anyone that has been whale watching and seen these magnificent mammals up close can tell you that it is an experience never forgotten and a feeling of amazement and happiness not quite understood.

Seals and Sea lions are collectively called Pinnipeds. Harbour Seals are the most abundant in Iceland and are frequently encountered on Akurey (puffin colony). There has been 7 species of seals recorded in Icelandic waters but only two of these species breed here; the Harbour Seal and Grey Seal. 

We are seeing more of these over the last couple of years as the water temperatures rise. They get their name by the way they are moving very close to the water surface (basking in the sun) however they are a plankton feeder and this is where the food is. 

On our whale watching tours we often encounter other species that don't belong to the whale and dolphin families. The various migratory and local seabirds, seals and even sharks bring surely added value to our tours.