Monday, 12 February 2024

Monday, 12 February 2024

Today we will be operating on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 9:00 and 13:00 Classic Whale Watching tour. Make sure to dress according to weather, as it is usually colder at sea than on land.

  • CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 9:00, 13:00

CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00

Report from Eldey: A cold wind blowing from the North had us thinking about the hot chocolate and the overalls, so that's what we did! About 10 minutes into the tour we saw 3 blows close to the container harbour. They belonged to 3 humpback whales that were up to some actions. We followed one that we thought was alone but apparently, another one popped up right next to it as its friend was doing very short dives. We saw a few fluke dives from both whales and decided to focus on the other one doing something else! It was doing lunge feeding events, making lots of bubbles and foam with that movement. It's 40 tons of whales moving fast! Quite a sight! We rarely moved the boat, since the whales were doing a great show all around us, so it wasn't even rocking. We returned to the harbour with a warm heart and great photos to remember this amazing tour.

- Pedro Teixeira
 

CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00

Report from Eldey: There was a northeasterly wind that brought a few waves into the bay, but the whales were still close to shore so we had calm seas for most of today's trip. We first spotted two humpback whales that were lungefeeding in the same area. They showed their flukes very often, and they rolled over to show their bellies sometimes. We decided to give these whales some space, and ventured further into the bay. A few harbour porpoises raced past our ship, and then another blow quickly popped up and we were able to follow a third humpback whale for a good while. This individual slowly made his way to the other humpbacks - on the way stopping for a quick nap. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by three humpback whales. It was wonderful to watch them with the backdrop of the snowcovered mountains and bright blue skies. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Bird species encountered today:

Northern fulmar, common guillemot, black guillemot, razorbill, herring gull, black-headed gull, lesser black-backed gull, great black-backed gull, great cormorant, European shag