Friday, 14 October 2022

Today we will be going out on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 09:00 and 13:00 Classic Whale Watching tours. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land.

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00

COVID-19: Keep in mind that passengers and crew are asked to ensure their own hygiene and safety at all times. Washing hands thoroughly with soap and using a hand sanitiser is advised.

Report from Eldey: Today was rough! A high swell and strong and cold wind coming from the north making the boat rocking even though our captain made many efforts to keep the boat steady. The wather was amazing with blue sky and nice sun making the landscape spectacular. We found an area with more birds, flock of kittiwakes and gulls were gathering, sometimes very active. We slowed down and saw small blow. We went there and saw that 3-4 minke whales were feeding in the area, sharing a feast with the seabirds. We saw them surfacing here and there, sometimes far sometimes close even though there were not easy to follow. After a while we took the direction of Akranes and crossed 2 white-beaked dolphins that came under our ship and disappeared. We went back home and saw another pod of 5-8 white-beaked dolphins, one of them was jumping falling back in big splashes. We turned trying to see them but they were going away and we did not want to chase them. We went back to the harbour with great views on the mountains.

- Miquel Pons

Report from Eldey: The swell had calmed down since the morning so the sea was a bit more comfortable to sail through. Our first sighting of the day was of jumping white-beaked dolphins. We could see their big splashes from the distance, but when we reached the area they calmed down and we were distracted by a minke whale who came up right in front of us. This individual surfaced a few times, but then disappeared under the surface. We saw more blows in the area, but all of the animals were diving exceptionally long today so we found it challenging to spot them. We explored some different areas and finally towards the end of the tour we had our best sighting. There were approximately 5 white-beaked dolphins swimming around in the same area as two humpback whales! We stayed with the dolphins for a few minutes but then we really wanted to check out the larger whales. Neila and Mariupol came up right next to our boat and did some human watching as they surfaced just a few meters from us. It was amazing seeing these animals from so close and watching them watching us. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Black-legged kittiwake, herring gull, common guillemot, glaucous gull, eider duck, razorbill, northern gannet, northern fulmar, northern gannet, sooty shearwater, black guillemot, great cormorant, European shag, black-backed gull.