Tour at 20:30
Report from Eldey: We sailed out into glorious sunshine with barely a cloud in the sky although there was a fair amount of wind and chop on the seas. After only half an hour of sailing an eagle-eyed passenger pointed at some slightly unusual splashes 50 m from the boat which turned out to be a lone harbour porpoise! This individual didn't stay long but it was still great to see a cetacean so early on. We kept going out further into Faxa Bay and after about 45 minutes saw some splashes 1 km away towards Snaefellsjokull, and as we got closer we could see these were a pod of white-beaked dolphins completely launching themselves out the water! As we approached these dolphins did stop jumping however we soon realised they were part of a dispersed 20-strong pod that were mainly feeding, often turning in circles, splashing and leaping at the water's surface. And then, to our surprise, a humpback whale came up with it's full mouth out the water in the middle of the dolphins! How fantastic to see these species interacting! After a few fluke-ups and circles the humpback whale started travelling north, with the dolphins escorting it - sometimes they even appeared to be jumping right on top of the whale when it came up to the surface! This continued for over 45 minutes to the delight of all the passengers. When we finally turned home everyone headed inside for some lovely music as nothing could top this incredible encounter.
- Ophelie Humphrey
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: The sea conditions had gotten slightly better but it was still pretty cold so we all had the nice looking overalls on when we headed out from the harbour. We went straight to the place where we last spotted the humpback whale and luckily for us it was still there. It came to the surface a couple of times before going for a deeper dive and then it showed us it's fluke which is always nice to see. It then started coming up fewer times and then diving straight straight back down but always showing it's fluke and never staying under for a very long time. We were able to follow the humpback for a while when we spotted another humpback whale further out. Since we were running out of time we decided to pay that one a visit before heading back to the harbour but it was taking long dives and not showing it's fluke so we took a chance and decided to take a small circle a bit further out while we still had time. It paid off because we saw a pod of about 4 or 5 white-beaked dolphins. They were very elusive but came pretty close to the boat so everyone at least got a good look at them. A good tour with two humpback whales and a pod of white-beaked dolphins.
-Bryndís Ösp
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: We sailed out under slightly calmer conditions this afternoon and were greeted by some sun, so that many passengers did not even need one of our warm overalls. On our way out where we had seen a humpback whale on our morning tour, we encountered many sea birds and could see on our fish finder that there was lots of fish around in the bay. We then saw a blow in the far distance, but it was quite hard to see against the sun, so that we could not find it again. After over an hour of sailing, we then spotted a blow and soon arrived at a humpback whale. The whale came up quite frequently so that we could get good views of its back and white flippers. We stayed with the humpback for almost half an hour and could even see its gorgeous fluke coming up two times, so that everybody could take some nice pictures. Then it was time for us to head back to Reykjavik. On our way back we saw another humpback whale, but time only allowed us to stay with it shortly. A nice afternoon well spent out at sea.
- Barbara Neubarth
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: After our first successful tour we expected some more sightings on this one. It took sometime to find our beloved cetaceans but definitely did! After almost an hour and a half of sailing we were losing hope. Nevertheless, we´d been seeing a lot of flocks of seabirds. Loads of atlantic puffins, kittiwakes and battles between arctic skuas and arctic terns for fish! amazing to witness indeed! but no cetaceans yet. Some people were getting a bit seasick so our crew members were helping them. Lucky us! because Remi (one of the guides on board) saw a blow in the distance at about a mile away while helping one of the passengers!Yes!thanks buddy!he is such a great spotter! after some more minutes of chasing the blow we got our reward. A feeding humpback whale and 2 also feeding minke whales. They were all sharing the same space with birds diving in the water all around. Actual wildlife in action! We also saw the humpback diving while showing its fluke. A great way to say goodbye. Lovely experience for a brilliant end of the tour.
- Jorge Pascual
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: The sea was very calm as we were leaving the harbour, but we were once again proven that the conditions can be very different as soon as one sails a bit further out. The wind got quite a bit stronger and the swell coming from the side gave us the impression of a rollercoaster-ride every once in a while. After hearing about a minke whale seen by one of the small whale watching boats we slowed down in search of the animal, but it had already disappeared again before we arrived. So we decided to head further out and managed to find a humpback whale just before getting to an area where some other boats had been watching another individual. At first we only saw the whale's blows but then suddenly it emerged in front of us and we watched it over the course of many surfacings. According to our fish finder the water surrounding us was full of fish and the humpback's behavior with lots of short and seemingly shallow dives seemed quite logical. A few times the whale came very close to our boat and we got nice looks at the white flippers shining through the water. After apparently diving underneath the boat - right before we had to start heading back - the humpback surfaced within a few meters of our boat and gave us an amazing view of its entire body under water. What a wonderful surprise to end our trip!
- Linda
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: The perfect weather and sea conditions in the harbour didn't last long as we went out toward the West of Faxafloi. We had to sail quite a long way before we could see our first cetacean and by then the sea conditions were slightly harder for us. But it was worth it as we finlly could see the blow of a humpback whale in the distance. The animal was behaving quite interestingly as it remained mainly at the surface and never went for a deep dive. The whale was traveling steadily toward the North and we soon managed to reach it and then sail along with it for a while. The animal kept quietly swimming until suddenly it breached out of the surface. The breaching was surprisingly slow and followed by another one looking nearly more like a spy hop. What an incredible show to see such a massive animal managing to put most of its huge body out of the water while still looking very quiet. The travel back was filled with the memories of this unforgettable moment and we even managed to catch a glimpse of another humpback whale before reaching Reykjavik.
- Rémi
Bird species seen on today tours include: northern gannet, northern fulmar, arctic tern, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, kittiwake, black-headed gull, atlantic puffin, common guillemot, arctic skua, and eider duck.
Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour Reykjavik today. The sun is shining and little to no wind in the city but there could be some movement on the boat out in the Faxabay