Monday, 02 June 2014

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We sailed out today in extremely good weather. There was little wind and the seas were very calm, with almost no waves. Perfect conditions for whale watching. To start of our tour we went to the same spot we went to on our 13:00 tour and were hoping spot the minkes we had seen then. After only a few minutes of searching we found our first cetaceans of the day, a Minke whale! Soon after we first spotted the minke we very quickly saw around three more. They swam quite close to us and gave us a very good look at them. We also saw three of them surface at the same time in very thight formation, a rare sight for minkes. After a while we lost track of the minkes but only a short while later we spotted some White-beaked Dolphins! They were very energetic and were jumping out of the water as we approached them. There were most likely between 20-30 of them, starting in 2-3 pods and then converging in one pod. They swam very close to us, surfacing and swimming just in front of the boat and to our sides. We also saw them jump and swim right under the boat! All in all a fantastic tour and we headed back in the very pleasant evening weather.

-Ívar Elí

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The rain did stop and the sea stayed as calm and flat as in the morning when we headed towards the same sighting area as before. This time we watched more than 50 Harbour Porpoises all around some in pods up to 10 close together. Some had calves among them and we could observe different behaviours like logging (resting motionless at the surface) up to short periods of porpoising (when they rush quickly showing their body out of the water to be quicker, having less friction). We saw them travelling slow or skimming close to the water surface alongside the boat. We also observed them in company with Minke Whales. Among the 4-6 minkes there was again curious "flickr" as in the 10 o´clock trip. Thanks to the circumstances we were switching the engine off again as "flickr" approached repeatedly. Once in the front he was coming just some meters from the boat and while he was descending, from higher up we could see its big tail shimmering through the water. We enjoyed a lot of surfacing from the pointed head tip to the slender back, up to the curved dorsal fins and some really close ones over this marvelous day.

- Carine Zimmermann

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: There was still a bit of light rain when we started our first afternoon trip today. But the sea was still as calm as in the morning and thanks to the light clouds the sighting conditions had gotten even better! Right around the same area we had been so successful in the morning we found our first Minke Whale again. And it was the first sign of lots and lots of wildlife out in the bay! During the next two hours we were surrounded by scattered minke whales and an incredible amount of Harbour Porpoises (over 100 individuals over the trip!). They gave us amazing looks at a wide range of behaviours - from travelling and milling to feeding, porpoising and even tail-slapping! Some of them also came extremely close to our boats - not something that we often see this species do! And apart from all the porpoise action there were at least 7-8 different minke whales around the same area. Some of them feeding near flocks of very active seabirds, others casually travelling around. It was difficult to decide where to look, it was such an amazing afternoon!

- Linda

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: As our trip was overlapping with Hafsúlans 9 o´clock trip, we had the same weather and sea conditions. The light rain didn´t bother the whales because they are wet anyway and with this bright flat ocean we had perfect conditions to spot any water irregularities. So we found a pod of 5-7 White-Beaked Dolphins with a younger one which were swimming in two groupings joining later while doing some direction changes and passing close by the boat. We were surrounded by more than 30 Harbour Porpoises while being in the sighting area and we had to decide what animal our eyes should be following. The same experience we made as well with 4-6 Minke Whales in our 300m observation zone. While the other whale watching vessels have been watching others whales further away. We spent more time with "flickr" and "resight guy" both minkes which are thanks to their characteristic dorsal fins known in this bay since 2009. Especially "flickr" was showing curious behaviour when we switched of the engine and we had a really close look at him and heard its breathing. From upper levels it was even possible to see its white band on his flipper under the surface when he came to check us out. Something similar happened also with a Harbour Porpoises which swam at a few meters distance along our boat while the engine went quiet and our eyes were sticking on it while it was skimming under the surface.

- Carine Zimmermann

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We sailed out into a very calm and peaceful day today. Even though there was light rain during most of the tour, the sighting conditions were phenomenal. And we did not have to sail very far to find our first Minke Whale. About 10-15 minutes out of the harbour we spotted the first individual and stayed with it for quite a bit before heading further out. The whale was changing direction quite often, but seemed quite relaxed and came fairly close to the boat a few times. On the way out to an area filled with more minke whales (at least 5-7) we got some very nice looks at a couple Harbour Porpoises. Over the trip we saw many more of them (over 50 individuals in total) - some even showing us their light bellies as they sped by. Between watching different minke whales we also took a look at a pod of around 5-7 White-Beaked Dolphins. All in all it was a great tour with lots of life in the Bay and beautiful sea conditions!

- Linda

Birds seen on todays tour include: Common Guillemot, Atlantic Puffin, Northern Fulmar, Kittiwake, Black-Backed Gull, Eider Duck, Arctic Tern, Arctic Skua, Manx Shearwater.