Tours at 2pm 5 pm and 8:30pm: CANCELLED
Unfortunately we have to cancel our Whale Watching tour today at 2 pm due to rough sea conditions. The wind and swells is picking up. Please don´t hesitate to contact our ticket office at +3545195000 or elding@elding.is if you have any questions or if you want to rebook the tour
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: We sailed out under sunny, but very windy conditions this afternoon. The wind did not stop our passengers to enjoy the sun out on deck, well packaged in one of our comfy overalls. Because of the wind we decided to take the Northern route along Mt Esja and past the Puffin island Lundey. Soon we reached the Hvalfjordur and sailed a bit inside the fjord to get shelter from the mountains. We had lots of bird activity and the beautiful scenery entertaining us in the fjord, but no cetaceans. Even when we were sailing with the wind further out into the bay, we were not successful in spotting whales, dolphins or porpoises. Towards the end of the tour we briefly encountered a minke whale, but it turned out to be a quite shy individual and only a few of us saw it surfacing two times. Then it was time for us to head back towards the old harbour of Reykjavik. Because most of us did not see the minke whale, this has been a complimentary tour.
- Barbara Neubarth
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: Although it was really quite windy in the bay, the lovely sunshine brought many smiling people out on deck to enjoy the surroundings. On the way out we stayed close to Mt Esja to gain some shelter from the wind, and once we reached Hvalfjordur we turned and had the wind to our backs which made for more pleasant sailing. Whilst we were out we got a wonderful close view of many puffins struggling to combat the wind and therefore not flying their usual crazy speeds nor minding us too much, to the delight of some photographers and birders on board. Fulmars glided gracefully within 10 m of the passengers´ heads, often taking them by surprise. We spotted a surprisingly large number of northern gannets too, and followed them towards a flock of about 10 individuals showing off their impressive diving style, flying into the water like a torpedo at breakneck speeds. Although this probably meant food was in the area, the conditions proved hard for spotting cetaceans as well as limiting how far out into the bay we could go. On the journey back we spotted a terrific air battle between an arctic skua and an arctic tern, with the skua not giving up the chase for over a minute but the tern got away. Unfortunately we did not spot any cetaceans on this trip, but the awesome bird life kept everybody out on deck in the sun until the end.
- Ophelie Humphrey
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: As it was forecasted, a strong wind was blowing from the North, out there in Faxa Bay. Luckily, despite the wind there was not so much tall waves, which kept the shaking to a reasonable level. Still, it was an adventurous ride ! Sea sickness inflicted few casualties among our brave and patient passengers... Everybody kept an eye around the boat, looking for cetaceans, nonetheless. In our wandering, we could sight a significant number of northern gannet, atlantic puffins and arctic terns. Those feathered daredevil did not seem to be bothered by the wind at all ! Disappointingly, our patient efforts during this tour were fruitless, and not a single whale was spotted. The white caps on the surface of the water and the shaking of the boat did not make the spotting any easier. It was one of those really unlucky tour where passengers are not rewarded for their dedication and attention... Thus, everybody was given complimentary tickets to have another shot on our boat. May they have more luck next time, and a more favorable weather !
- Guillaume Calcagni
Bird species seen on today's tour include: arctic skua, atlantic puffin, arctic tern, northern gannet, black-backed gull, northern fulmar, common guillemot
Status tours 9am, 10am and 1pm: RUNNING
We are sailing from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik. It is a bit windy and there will be movement on the boat.