Friday, 24 March 2023

Today we are scheduled to be operating on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 9:00 and 13:00 Whale Watching tour. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land. 

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 9:00    
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00

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: We left the harbour with a sunny day despite the strong wind from NE and the swell increasing. After sailing towards West, we started spotting few blows in the distance. As we came closer we saw 2 fin whales busy feeding on the surface of the water and suddenly we just found out to be in the company of other individuals, not only the spieces just mentioned but also 4 humpback whales. We were surrounded by whales everywhere as apparently there were dense patches of plantkon and lots of fish in the water today. Also many seabirds - such as northern fulmars -  catching fishes around. We estimate to have seen at least 8 whales today, 4 fin whales and 4 humpback whales. On our way back, while admiring a fin whale traveling, an unexpected breaching sequence from a humpback whales happened in front of us leaving us all in awe! What a day, unbelievable rare and amazing! So happy and lucky to have joined the tour today!

- Marta Filippini 

Report from Eldey: After a great morning tour we couldn't wait to get back out again this afternoon. Thankfully the waves were a bit calmer and the wind had died down a bit. This made our outward journey to our whale frenzy a bit easier. After a while of sailing we spotted a blow. Then before we knew it we spotted about 10-15 blows all in different directions in front of us! Our first call was at a humpback whale. This was our first of 5 humpback whales we got close encounters with on this tour. This individual even gave us a great look at it's lower body with some penduncle throws! We then moved on to spend time with another blow. This turned out to be 3 humpback whales all hanging out together. They would regularly surface at the same time which was really cool. At one point they all surfaced right in front of us, probably only 10m from the bow! As other boats came to look at these individuals we moved on to our next blows. These were blows from 2 fin whales. We got to spend a good amount of time seeing these massive whales surfacing within 20m of our boat on the left. This is really cool seeing these great whales which doesn't happen too often. Their blows make the humpback blows look tiny which is very impressive. After these fin whales we sailed to another humpback whale. This was Davy Jones II who we have seen a lot recently. This was the best interaction of the day. This individual was rolling and pec slapping so close to the boat. They spent nearly 15 minutes just under and around our boat spending almost the whole time at the surface. There was probably double the amount of humpback and fin whales within 1-2km of us but unfortunately we didn't have time to see them all. It is a shame this tour had to end but hopefully these fantastic tours will continue.

- Rob Hyman