Monday, 12 May 2014

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The weather seemed to have cleared up this afternoon, revealing here and there patches of blue sky and only a mild wind was blowing. Encouraged from this morning's sightings of a lunge feeding Minke Whale, we headed from bird flock to bird flock in search for another friendly encounter with the gentle giants. Soon our patience was rewarded and we encountered another Minke Whale lunging and rolling around in the water in the search and persue of food. Luckily for us the individual rolled around just beneath the water surface, giving us an excellent look at its white-pinkish belly through the clear water. The Minke Whale came also as close as 10 meters to us and never strayed far away. Probably this, was due to the large amount of food in this area, as become apparent to us, when we looked at the fish finder. As soon as two other whale watching boats arrived we thought to give the whale some space and headed further into the bay. Soon we encountered a small pod of 5-8 Harbour Porpoises and another Minke Whale. This individual we could later identify as Smurf and he had been seen in the bay every year since 2007. What a great way to finish of this afternoon's tour.

-Dominik and Megan

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: A mostly grey sky and a chilly wind awaited us this morning. However, enduring the cold should be rewarded as soon became apparent, when we encountered our first 2 Minke Whales. Both seemed occupied with chasing after some food. We hadn't been waiting for long, when one the Minke Whales gave us the amazing opportunity to see him lunge-feed close to the surface. In midst of some surface feeding Arctic Terns the Minke Whale was rolling around and frequently altering its course. It surfaced rapidly and with great velocity, eventually revealing its white-pinkish belly and its baleen plates with slightly opened mouth. Sometimes it even surfaced as close as 10 meters to the vessel, seemingly undisturbed by its keen observers. Having been with this individual for quite some time we also saw some other 2-3 other Minke Whales in the distance. Quite obviously this area was a rich feeding ground and we were the lucky spectators of this great feast.

-Dominik and Megan

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