Monday, 11 August 2014

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It was a beautiful sunny summer afternoon today. We sailed through lots of areas looking for some marine wildlife but did not get as much sightings as we had hoped for. After almost an hour and a half, we finally saw white-beaked dolphins. There were around 10 of them in a pod as we saw them splashing and breaching in the distance. As we got closer, they stopped breaching but we managed to get quite close to three of them. They were stationarily hanging out in the surface, coming up frequently with the sunlit Snæfellsjökull glacier in the background. After we left the dolphins, we continued searching but unfortunately, did not manged to find any more cetaceans. Although we would have loved some more sightings, we did have a very nice and pretty afternoon on the Faxaflói bay.

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The winds had picked up slightly this afternoon but the whales seemed to be in an area along the coast, providing good cover. We began by sailing down the coast in very good weather and enjoying the Icelandic summer weather. We were on our way to the area where we had seen the a whale earlier when passengers spotted a dorsal fin. It turned out to belong to a Minke whale! This individual was feeding in the area and came very close to the boat many times. It was an excellent encounter and we headed onward quite pleased. We got to the area where we had seen the minke earlier on and soon found another minke. This individual was moving fast but nevertheless we got quite a good view of it with Reykjavik in the background. An good ending to the tour and we headed back along the coast of Reykjavik in the afternoon sun.

-Ívar Elí

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The winds had calmed down when we left the harbour this afternoon. We sailed south along the Reykjanes peninsula and found a minke whales quite close to Hafnarfjörður. It was showing off well, keeping a steady speed and course and so we got some very nice and close looks at it. After having spent a good amount of time with it, we decided to head further south. We found two more minkes on our way, but they did not show off as well as the first one. There was some fish showing on the fish finder but yet, there were not many birds around. On the way back, we enjoyed a beautiful view on the Snæfellsjökull glacier, the Snæfellsnes and Reykjanes peninsula and the capital area of Reykjavík. Very nice!

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: Today the sun was shining and the weather was overall quite nice as we sailed out onto Faxa bay. It was a bit more windy when we got out sea however but spotting conditions were quite good. We had to sail for quite a while today before we found something. First we sailed west and then back to the east, ending near Hafnarfjörður. There, after almost two hours of searching we had our first sighting, a pod of two Harbour porpoises. These individuals were quite elusive however and we only got a few glimpses of them. Suddenly a Minke whale surfaced just a short distance away from the harbour porpoises. This individual was well worth the wait and gave us a good show. It was clearly feeding in the area, bringing the head up with an open mouth and swimming quite quickly. We could also see the mackerel jumping out of the water in the wake of the whale. A fantastic ending to the tour!

-Ívar Elí

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It was bright and sunny as we headed out on the Faxaflói bay this morning. We went through lots of areas but unfortunately, did not manage to find any cetaceans. We did find some feeding birds, among them northern gannets, but sadly, the wales were either not there at all or just not showing themselves. Since it was quite windy further out on the bay, some of our passengers got sea sick. What a disappointment on such a warm and sunny day. We gave out complimentary tickets at the end of the tour and hope to see our passengers again. Better luck next time!

-Arnór Tumi

Birds seen on today's tour include: Puffins, arctic terns, arctic skuas, fulmars, kittiwakes, northern gannets, guillemots, lesser black-backed gulls and a cormorant.