Tour status: RUNNING
Tour at 19:00
Report from Elding: Smooth sailing with some fine rain for this tour, we sailed out to the usual area and came across a small pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins. They seemed to be milling around and enjoying a peaceful swim until we came along so we left them too it and sailed on a little longers. BLOW! shouted Captain Barður, by the time we got to the area the whale had dove, 10 minutes later, BLOW! over a kilometre away and by the time we got there the whale had dove. We were expecting this to be a grumpie humpie. Luckily after 10 minutes more the whale popped up not far from the boat but dove after a couple fo breaths. Suddenly another pod of white-beaked dolphisn strated to play around the boat, bow-riding and leaping. Must have been about 6-7 animals that were in a much better mood than the other pod. As we were watching them the humpback whale breached (jumped out of the water) and we were of to see humpie again. We good good view of it this time as it took much shorted dives. 3 minke whales were also seen briefly during the tour but not seen as well as the dolphins and humpback. A very good tour all in all.
- Megan Whittaker
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: We left the harbour under gray skies this afternoon once again, although that wasn't such a problem for the whales. An hour into the tour, we found our first minke whale, that surfaced a few times, quite close to the boat. It was quickly followed by at least four others as we made our way further into the bay. Shortly after we had our first humpback whale sighting, and what a surprise! It surfaced right in front of the boat, really close to us! It surfaced again a few times until eventually leaving us. Once we continued moving again, we encountered at least 3 more minke whales, around a large flock of feeding seabirds. These exciting encounters were followed by a nice cruise back to the harbour, on nearly flat seas.
-Anne Moullier
Tour at 14:00
Report from Hafsúlan: Another happy day in Faxaflói. Upon sailing the usual hour or so, we stumbled into a very nutrient rich area and among the plenty of seabird species which were flocking by the hundreds, 6-7 minke whales could have been seen in total in the wider area. We saw minke whales of all ages and sizes. From 5 m long ones to those adult ones double in size. This species is usually one of those that is a bit more difficult to catch on camera, but this time this was not a problem. The were surfacing all around the boat and were going in all possible directions, most likely, following the fish schools. We wanted to see whales, we saw them, lots of them.
-Lucas Heinrich
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: Even though the weather was not at its best, we could prove once again, that the whales do not care about it. We sailed out into the bay to find a big flock of seabirds and were soon surrounded by minke whales. Probably we saw 6-7 individuals, some of them more elusive and others coming in really close. The highlight was definitely observing them in their feeding behaviour, this were some hungry minkes! After quite some time, we decided to go on and try to find something else in the bay. When turning back towards the harbour we came across a group of minkes once more, this time they were further south. This individuals were probably the same from the first encounter but this only our researchers can reveal after looking at the ID photos. Anyways it was a great afternoon out in the bay!
- Sarah Kompatscher
Tour at 10:00
Report from Hafsulan: The weather did not improve from the first tour, adding up a bit of light rain. Our first encounter was a minke whale! It took a bit of an effort to keep up with it, but we managed to observe it for quite a while. As we were on its track, we crossed a few more of the same kind! Since there was a lot of bird activity in the area, most likely there were a lot of prey in the water and these minke whales were probably foraging. Before the end of the tour we were also able to enjoy the presence of a humpback whale! Another ride to remember!
- Ines Cunha
Tour at 9:00
Report from Eldey: We left the harbour under a little bit of wind and rain this morning, the fog partially covering the landscape around us. About an hour into the tour, we found our first minke whale! It was a very small, young minke, eager to interact with us. It surfaced very close to the boat, surprising us a few times. Later on, as we continued cruising though the bay, we found at least three more minkes and a humpback whale. Even though we were within a respectful distance of the humpback, we saw it surface a few times, and it even showed us its fluke once. As we continued circling the area where we first saw the humpback, at least 4 more minkes surfaced around us a few times. We were clearly in an area with a lot of fish, as indicated by the number of flocks of seabirds we witnessed feeding in the area. Overall a great start to the day for everyone!
-Anne Moullier
Bird species seen on today's tours: northern fulmar, northern gannet, atlantic puffin, arctic skua, great skua, arctic tern, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, black-legged kittiwake, common guillemot, manx shearwater
We are running our tours today from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík, it is a little bit windy out on the Faxa Bay this morning so we are expecting some movement in our early departures as well as some rain, which we hope will pass by as the day progresses. Please don't hesitate to contact our ticket office for further information, either via phone +354 5195000 or elding@elding.is
