Friday, 24 September 2021

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hofnin.24 sept

Friday, 24 September 2021

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00 and 14:00 Premium Whale tours and 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
  • PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
  • 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. Masks are not mandatory but are recommended in areas where keeping distance from others is not possible.

 

CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00

Report from Eldey: This morning’s tour was probably the most beautiful tour we have hard this whole month. Unfortunately the storms this month has kept us mostly on land but today the clouds cleared, there was a cold nip in the air, fresh snow on the mountain peaks and the bay was also calm, some waves but no swell. I think the wildlife also felt the same as we saw 3 different humpback whales, 1 pair and 1 solitary. They were just sooooo relaxed and surfacing so close they were almost touching the boat. Passengers on the bow probably got some nice snot shots as the blows blew over the passengers. The first cetaceans we saw though were a pod of white-beaked dolphins, a very scattered pod of maybe 7-10 individuals with calves. They were busy either socialising or feeding as they were leaping and breaching, we even got some very nice views of the belly of one individual allowing us to identify the sex of the individual. A male. There is still a lot to learn about this species so all this information is very important. A great morning tour.

- Megan Whittaker

PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00

Report from RIB : What a lovely day. Of it was very cold this morning the sun was shining. The sea was calm with some strange movements maybe the result of the wind turning quite often lately. We went out happy on this beautiful weather and looked in an area that has been good lately. We first saw a minke whale, then a second one. But 1 minute after trying to spot them again we saw the blow of 3 humpback whales ! We approached and there that were just swimming next to each other, very calm. They surfaced quite close to our boat, maybe a bit curious about us and continued their slow path. We stayed with then quite long time enjoying the nice views on those big whales. At one moment, one of the whales start rolling a few times showing its long pectoral fin and slapped the water with it once. One that we named homer Simpson a few weeks earlier went on it's own swimming faster in direction of Reykjavik meanwhile the others stayed. We left trying to spot something else and found 2 other humpback whales also quite calm swimming next to each other with some beautiful fluke dives. We went back very happy and did a little tour next to the city.

- Miquel Pons

PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00

Report from RIB : The sun was hidden by the clouds this afternoon but the landscape was still amazing with snow in the mountains around Reykjavik. The wind coming from the land was picking up as well as the waves making the tour a bit more choppy and adventurous. We had difficulties to find animals. We had a first encounter with a shy minke whale that quickly disappeared. Then we were heading toward boats that found something when we saw 500m away a humpback whale breaching ! We went there and it was a pair of humpback whales. One was peduncle slapping, tail slapping lobe slapping and the other one a bit pectoral slapping so it was quite a show. They calmed down and went for short dives showing nice fluke dives. We went back under the sun, the clouds being pushed away by the wind.

- Miquel Pons

CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00

Report from Eldey: There are some days that put you through some challenge just to give you a wonderful gift at the end. And today was one of those days! Eventhough the afternoon started with worse weather conditions than in the morning, it ended up with superb views of the city of Reykjavík. The first animals that showed up were a pod of 3-5 white-beaked dolphins that seemt as they were looking for food. As we continued our route, one very small minke whale showed up. Moments later we could see 6-7 white-beaked dolphins jumping, what a show! and the best was yet to come...two humpback whales! They were swimming pretty slowly, and one of them was rolling letting us see its body. What a fabulous tour!

- Estel Sanchez i Cami