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Friday, 16 July 2010

Tour at 20:30

We sailed out a little after 20:30 and thought the wind was calming down while we were sailing. We started by the puffin island Akurey and saw then that the wind was as strong and even stronger than it was during the day! In Akurey there were not that many puffins around and they might have been inside their holes or out on the bay. We sailed out to the bay in the windy weather and searched for a really long time before the captain spotted a minke whale. It only came up once and he might have been the only one who saw it. Then after searching again for a long time we found a couple of white beaked dolphins who stayed with us for about 3 minutes, showing themselves just a little. We then had to sail back and decided to give our passengers a complimentary ticked after the very poor sightings and the rough sea. The sunset was however beautiful and the light as well.

 

Tour at 17:00

We headed straight out to Faxaflói this time. The weather was great but a bit windy so we got a lot of fresh air but the Whales were being very difficult, during the tour we didn't spot any flock of feeding birds but there were many birds on the bay, all travelling. Towards the end of the tour we finally came across a pod of White-beaked Dolphins they were not showing off this time but they surfaced often so we were able to observe them. We then ended the tour with a stop in Akurey to see the Puffins.

 

Tour at 14:00

Again we sailed out in glorious sunny weather but a bit windy. The visibility was great and we could see Snæfellsjökull glacier extremely well in the distance. We started by stopping by the puffin island Akurey where quite many Puffins were swimming and flying around the island as well as many other species. We then had to search for about 50 minutes before the first Minke Whale popped up beside the boat! Then a huge flock of feeding birds started to form in front of us. We sailed in that direction and a feeding Minke Whale came up under the birds two times lunge feeding, as well as showing the back with a blow two times. We then saw one more minke before heading towards Reykjavík again. A bit difficult searching for the whales but still a nice tour.

 

Tour at 13:00

We decided to try a different area this time so we started the tour with a visit in Lundey to see the Puffins and then we headed out. First we spotted a flock of feeding birds but there was no whale to be found around these birds so we headed on. After searching for a while we then spotted one Minke Whale heading the opposite direction so we waited around for that one to come up again few minutes later we spotted the blow from the Whale but that was it, it didn't come up again close enough for us to see it. Therefore we kept on searching and after a long long search we were could smell that there was a Minke Whale not faraway from us so we turned the boat towards the wind. After a little while we spotted a flock of feeding birds and right underneath the birds we spotted a Minke Whale. It surfaced several times there around the birds and at one point we could see the splashes as it was rolling right under the surface feeding.

 

Tour at 10:00

We sailed out in sunny but windy weather. The tour started at the Puffin Island Akurey and there were not very many puffins out on the island this morning but still some of  course, both on the sea and a few flying around. We then sailed out to Faxaflói and we had to sail for about 50 minutes before finding a whale. All in all we found around 4 Minke Whales, two of them coming up rather close to us but only for a short while each time. The whales were a bit difficult this morning but we managed to see one of them very well. A little challenging tour with windy weather.

 

Tour at 9:00

Report from Hafsúlan: This morning we went first to Akurey to see the Puffins, then we headed out in search for the Whales. We spotted a blow from a Minke Whale after we had been searching for about one hour, then for a while we didn't see anything but we spotted a flock of feeding birds behind us so we turned around and headed that way. All of a sudden the Minke Whale came up again only about 20 meters away from the boat. It was heading full speed same direction as we were and it came a lot out of the water so we were able to see it clearly. It surfaced about 4 times in a row and then it went for a deeper dive and came up on the other side of us, this time it was not as graceful but we could see it very well. Not so faraway from this Minke Whale closer to the flock of feeding birds we then spotted another Minke Whale.

Report from Elding II: We stopped at the Puffin Island Akurey this morning. Many Puffins were flying above the island and some were sitting at the water surface in front of the island. After this nice visit we went out into the bay and looked for whales. We spotted a huge blow in front of us and when we got closer we saw a Minke Whale surfacing really close to the boat. It surfaced 3 times really close but when it disappeared. On our way back to the harbour we spotted a big group of Gannets diving down to catch fish. We also saw many Puffins out at the bay.