Tour status: RUNNING
Tour at 19:00
Report from Hafsulan: The first sight that welcomed us in the bay was the Snaefellsjokull painted in orange by the dying sunlight. Without a doubt we were going to have an excellent visibility and a beautiful background for our tour! The first encounter we had was an easy pod of 6-8 white beaked dolphins that provided some breaches, stern wave riding and close looks! After leaving them, we circled around, watching the sun slowly popping down from the clouds then disappearing in the horizon. We found the same pod of dolphins and they led us to a spot where 2 minke whales were lazily swimming, allowing us to see them without effort. To end this splendid cruise, our troubadour played great tunes on the way back.
- Guillaume Calcagni
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: The wind had calmed down, the sea was smoother and even though the sky was mostly cloudy it was clrear where the sun sat down so we could enjoy the beautyful orange and pink colors. The sightings were also great. Thr tour began with a pod of 5 white beaked dolphins. Soon another pod with 6-7 white beaked dolphins joined in. It was so fun watching them as they showed us their best acrobatic behaviour riht next to the boat. Far out we also spotted a minke whale. At first it was feeding among flock of birds. Soon it traveled towards us and seemed to be checking us out! Then it started milling around so it was easy to watch it until we had to head back to Reykjavík. On the way back a pod of 4-5 harbour porpoises swam quickly past us and seemed to be in a hurry like they so often are. What a great time we had out at sea!
-Sigurlaug Sigurðardóttir
Tour at 14:00
Report from Hafsulan: The wind started to pick up towards the afternoon and so we sailed out with the wind in the face but finally also some sun! Little waves should make this a bit more difficult tour, but once we spotted the first cetacean it went one after the other. The first minke whale we spotted was a rather elusive animal but we spotted it several times and decided then to move on. A little later we saw lots of northern gannets actively hunting in an area and more minkes were not far. We encountered a total of 5-6 individuals! Some were traveling, some feeding and a really tiny little calve came in so close to us and had a nice look at our boat, that we were all stunned. A real wildlife excursion, especially seeing this hunting birds and feeding whales in one area, just fantastic!
- Sarah Kompatscher
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: Sea conditions were a little more rough than for the tour in the morning, but winds were not too strong and we got a lot of sunshine as well. After searching for a while, we came across a minke whale. However, this individual was difficult to follow. Soon afterwards another minke came to the surface, but we couldn't see this one again either. There were also some seabirds feeding in the area, suggesting a rather large amount of food. All of a sudden we had 2 more minke whales feeding around us, coming really close to the boat in this process! After this incredible encounter we managed to see another individual, before starting our journey back to the harbour.
-Diana Besel
Tour at 10:00
Report from Hafsúlan: This morning Hafsúlan went on a sparkling tour of joy and happiness as everything You could wish for became true. The sun was shining since the beginning until the end, the sea was flat as pudding and, of course, the cetaceans played on our side once again. Soon we came along a minke whale, left it behind for another one which again we passed by for an area with a lot of bird activity. This turned out to serve us: There were at least 3, maybe 5 minke whales feeding all around us and came very close also. Still we chose to go further to see a large pod of white beaked dolphins jumping, playing close to our boat and feeding very actively. We had to leave them too as we were at delay already, but it was worth it!
- Valentin Witek
Tour at 9:00
Report from Eldey: We had sunshine and flat seas as we left the harbour this morning! About 45 minutes into the tour, we had our first encounter with a pod of 10-15 white-beaked dolphins! They jumped around the boat for a while, bow-riding.It was a really nice sight. A short while later we saw our first minke whale, that surfaced briefly, a few times around the boat. It went for deep dive and was not seen again, so we continued our search a bit further out. Then, we found a second pod of at least 15 white-beaked dolphins, that was feeding around the boat. It was really interesting to observe the range of behaviours as they foraged around us. In the same area, we saw two more minkes, one juvenile and one larger individual that surfaced once very close to the boat. As we headed back to the harbour, we enjoyed the sight of more white-beaked dolphins jumping in the distance, as well as one more small minke, that quickly surfaced near the boat. An overall very interesting tour in beautiful weather!
-Anne Moullier
Bird species seen on today's tours: northern gannet, northern fulmar, Atlantic puffin, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, common guillemot, black guillemot, great skua, manx sheerwater, cormorant.
We are sailing from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík today, the weather today is beautiful, and sea conditions are favorable, there might always be some movement out on the boat and if you are prone to getting seasick, we do have seasickness tablets free of charge. It might be sunny but it is a cold day, so be sure to make use of our warm overalls! For more information contact us by email elding@elding.is or by phone +354 519 5000
