Friday, 22 July 2016

Status: Running

We are sailing out from the old harbor in Reykjavík on a quiet day. The wind is quite calm today and the conditions at sea are great. We hope you are able to join us to see these amazing giants in they're natural habitat .

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: It was raining when we left the harbour but still quite warm, there wasn't much wind and the sea conditions were excellent. Because the surface of the sea was so calm we had high hopes of finding some cetaceans and, sure enough, some passengers spotted a minke whale not far from the harbour. It was very elusive though so we didn't spend much time with it and kept sailing further out. Not long after one of the crew members spotted a humpback whale about 3 kilometers away and while we were sailing towards the humpback we also spotted a pod of about 6-8 white-beaked dolphins in the same area as the humpback whale. We were still sailing towards where they last went for a dive when the dolphins came up in front of us about 150 meters away. We followed the dolphins for a while and suddenly the humpback whale came up between them! The dolphins then started leaping and playing with the humpback and one of them even leapt over it as it was coming up! The humpback whale started playing with the dolphins, rolling around and swimming sideways and then suddenly it started lunge-feeding at the surface! After that it came up for air four to five times before lifting the fluke out of the water and then started lunge-feeding at the surface again and it repeated this process three more times! It was amazing seeing the whale feeding so close and so often, we were able to get a very good look at the baleen plates and it's stomach, not to mention the tubercules. An awesome three species tour with one very hungry humpback.

-Bryndís Ösp

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: We sailed out with grey clouds above us, but clear horizon and flat sea, perfect spotting conditions. Very soon we spotted our first cetacean species: a harbour porpoise. It surfaced with its full body above sea surface right toward us, twice, so all of the passengers standing outside had a good look at it. We headed straight to the area where we heard few individuals of humpback whales are. Indeed, as we approached the area, we spotted two individuals, at about 150 and 250 meters from our boat. We chose one to see it closer. This individual was slowly traveling and staying at the surface for longer time, so close we could see its long white pectoral fins under sea surface very nicely. We also spotted few blows of other humpback whales and a larger pod of white-beaked dolphins (around 15 individuals) in the distance. We were enjoying watching this humpback for some time, took nice photos, and then we decided to check out the other individual. This one was going for long dives, probably feeding, so we decided to check out the pod of dolphins we saw earlier, especially because they came closer and one juvenile started to jump. While we were approaching, this juvenile jumped around 10 times in a row, very high! We noticed they split, so we decided to check out those few (3-6) which were closest to us. Unfortunately, dolphins swam away fast, and we were also running out of time so we started heading back to the harbour. We decided to check out another humpback whale, which two other whale watching boats were looking, on our way back. It was a great decision! That last encounter was the best in the whole day! By the time we arrived to the area, other boats left so we could enjoy in watching it alone. Humpback whale started making bubble net and lunge feeding and was very soon joined by 3 white-beaked dolphins! It was so lively, together with 4 Northern gannets circling above, loads of loud Arctic terns feeding around, skua chasing kittiwakes, puffins at sea surface all around us...We didn’t even mind a big rain, wind and returning a bit latter. The landscape was beautiful too. The sun with rainy clouds formed one huge rainbow cloud in front of us. And, for the end, while we were leaving, 2 dolphins accompanied us, bow riding and wave riding, before returning to their feeding spot with humpback! With big smiles on our faces, filled with positive energy we returned to the harbour. Absolutely amazing tour! 

-Tena Šarčević

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: When we sailed out again this afternoon, the rain had stopped but the sky was still overcast. However, there was still no wind so we could a flat ocean ahead of us. After about an hour we reached one of our main areas, with a minke whale coming up a few hundred meters away from us. Instead of slowing down, we just headed further out until we came across a humpback whale. This animal was so relaxed that we spent almost the entire tour with it. It seemed like this humpie was resting, every now and then changing directions and floating along the side of the boat. I think passengers in the bow of out boat could have almost touched it several times. It is not unusual to have close encounters with humpback whales but this was an incredible easy-going and relaxed individual. When it was time for us to head home, we waved it googbye with some amazing memories to take home. 

- Hanna Michel

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: The sky was grey and overcast when we sailed out but the sea was very smooth. So spotting conditions were perfect. After about 45 minutes of sailing we spotted a minke whale, we watched the animal surface a number of times and everybody got a nice look at the animal. We heard that there was a humpback whale in the area and we decided to see if we could spot it. After about ten minutes we found the animal. The whale was very relaxed, coming up very regularly but still showing its fluke despite not going for a deep dive. It stayed very close to the boat and one time it even touched the boat while lunge feeding. Everybody got amazing views of the animal. On our way back we spotted another humpback whale, this animal also came very close to the boat once again giving the passengers some great views. Unfortunately we had to leave the animal quite soon, but while travelling towards Reykjavik we had another encounter with a minke whale surfacing very close to the boat a few times. A great trip with incredible views of two humpback whales and two minke whales.

-Anouk

Tour at 9:00

Report from Eldey: We had overcasted sky, light rain and fog in the distance, but the sea was pretty flat. On this tour we encountered one minke whale at the very beginning, soon after we sailed from the harbour. We saw it surfacing few times, but it was feeding, therefore, staying longer under the sea surface so we decided to check out a humpback whale, who's blow we saw in distance. Once we approached it closer, we recognized this individual, it was our well known whale named Þrostur! Seen in Akureyri just few days ago! It was relaxed, slowly traveling, very close to our boat. While we were enjoying in it's company, one sailing boat approached the area too, but in a very inappropriate way, almost hitting the whale. We tried to contact them by radio, over the microphone used and we even used the horn to show them they are too close. Finally they slowed down and shut the engine, just above the whale. It was an ugly scene to see, but educational for all the passengers. Whale got disturbed, speeding up and it even fin and tail slapped. After it moved further in front of us, it seemed it calmed down, slowly traveling and staying long time at the surface again. At this point we decided to leave it and try to find another individual. We encountered another minke. This one was feeding, therefore moving fast, but everyone had a good look at it. On the way back we encountered a pod of white-beaked dolphins. It was a pod of 6-8 mother-calf pairs. Although they had calves, we approached them nicely so they let us enjoy in their company for awhile at the distance of about 50 meters, so we all had a nice look at them. 

-Tena Šarčević