Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik on a beautiful day. There is little wind but there can be movement on the boat out on the Faxabay. Hope you will be able to join us to try to find these magnificent animals in their natural environment
Tour at 19:00
Report from Elding: Love was in the air. The gay pride was all over the place. Freedom flags on board and even on Esja (the mountain range to the east of Reykjavik). How? There was a massive rainbow greeting us on our way back home. The sea conditions were perfect and almost no wind. It took us sometime to find the first and only cetacean of the tour. I saw a big blow about a mile away from the boat after 30 minutes of sailing. It also took us about 10 more minutes to get to the area were it was. After two surfacing sequences (3 times each time) the humpback whale breached in front of the boat! not only once but twice! lovely. After the spectacular show, Gardar (our musician on board) killed it too! amazing performance and great tunes! Two amazing shows put up by two amazing singer-songwriters ;). Gardar and the whale. A trip full of magic I will always remember.
- Jorge Pascual
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: The weather was still great when we sailed out. During the tour we spotted a humpback whale, when we were waiting for the humpback whale to resurface we saw three harbour porpoises that came very close to the boat. Which was quite unique because often harbour porpoises do not come so close to the boat. While still waiting for the humpback whale we also spotted a minke whale but we only managed to see the animal surfacing twice. Then finally the humpback whale resurfaced right next to the boat. Everyone got a great look at the animal. After that the animal became a bit elusive and travelled fast under the water. But we still managed to see it surfacing and fluking several times.
-Anouk de Plaa
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: When we were sailing out this afternoon, the wind had calmed a bit, but a few clouds had started to cover the Icelandic sky. Nevertheless out at sea we were greeted by the sun frequently. Only after 45 minutes of sailing we saw a minke whale in the distance and a pod of 5-7 white-beaked dolphins quite close by. The dolphins were great, coming very close to us and swimming under the boat so that everybody could get really nice views of their beautiful wave like patterns. Next to that, we had super funny puffins all around us, trying to fly away with a full tummy. When the dolphins seemed to have lost interest in us we decided to head further out. Unfortunately we did not see anymore cetaceans for a long time, but the sun made the sailing really pleasant. At the end we sailed towards a spot where another boat had seen a minke whale. However the time constraints did not allow us to look for it long and we only saw it in the distance before we had to return to the old harbour. A nice afternoon with great white-beaked dolphins.
- Barbara Neubarth
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: Although it was very overcast in the harbour as soon as we got out into Faxaloi the sun begun to shine more brightly. After only 40 minutes we encountered our first minke whale close the entrance of the whale fjord/ This minke, although changing direction, was often surfacing close to the boat, enough for us to see its light patch along its flank. Whilst we were watching this a mother and calf harbour porpoise also popped up only 50 m in front of the boat. Lovely to have them so close, and you realise just how tiny they are - about human size! After 20 minutes with this individual more boats joined so we begun to head further out. After half an hour more searching we headed towards a big flock of birds when another minke whale surfaced, apparently heading towards the birds' fish. 3 minutes later we saw another dark back, however this yet was another individual - our very recognisable Humpty, which has a dorsal fin much like a humpback and was first recorded in 2011! Really great to see a familiar fin after a poor turn out of old-timers so far this summer. We spent another 30 minutes between these 2 individuals, and not once but twice I somehow managed to successfully countdown to when they surfaced! Just a fluke, I promise :p A really fantastic tour with minke mania!
- Ophelie Humphrey
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: The sea conditions and visibility were great. After 40 minutes of sailing we saw a minke whale very close to the boat (about 30 meters) but as it was travelling we could only catch a glimpse of it. We waited and waited for it to come back up. No signs whatsoever. We decided to move on when I saw a small blow at about 200 meters. We could not see it again. The minke was very elusive. After 20 more minutes we saw 1 solitary white-beaked dolphin. Very elusive as well, it did not show itself to us anymore. On the way back we caught a glimpse of another minke whale. It surfaced just once. Afterall the sailing and some sightings made our morning. We also gave away complimentary tickets as we did not see the animals well. Those tickets are valid within 2 years! a great reason to come back to Iceland.
- Jorge Pascual
Tour at 9:00
Report from Eldey: The weather is still incredible with sunshine and just a little wind. During this tour we spotted Atlantic white beaked dolphins. They were showing very clear feeding behaviour chasing after fish at full speed while being followed by a flock of birds. Afterwards we heard that they were probably chasing mackerel around. The dolphins started moving very fast towards another group of white beaked dolphins in the distance which were also feeding. But before they reached the area they suddenly changed direction and started putting on a spectacular show showing lots of amazing aerial behaviour! Then they moved close to the boat and came bowriding and wave riding. An incredible encounter with two groups of white beaked dolphins. On the way back we spotted a minke whale, unfortunately we did not have time to wait for it to surface again.
- Anouk de Plaa
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