Tour at 19:00
Report from Hafsulan: Once again we started our journey wet because of little rain, and once again with time conditions gets better. Sea stayed calm and sailing was smoothie and easy. On our previous tour we saw whales close to the city so this time we were prepared and spotting a fin just after 20 minutes after leaving harbour wasn´t surprising. Owner of this fin was basking shark. It was exactly the same individual witch we had seen before today, easy to recognize by scar on the snout and fresh injury on the dorsal fin. Once again we had amazing opportunity to take look at this peaceful and slowly fish when it´s massive body was just lying few centimeters under water surface. After heading further in direction of Akranes we spotted pod of 8-12 white-beaked dolphins. They presented us almost circus show with jumping and twisting in the air! It was spectacular. Dolphins were so interactive that some of them were staying all the time just next to our boat checking us through the water or bow-riding. It was hard decision to leave them, but we were hoping for more. Unfortunately minke whale which we saw wasn´t as nice as dolphins ans with its elusive behaviour we had only few chances to take fast look at. At the end to cheer us up we saw another pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins but they were also quite elusive so we went home on the way enjoying bright sunset which set sky in fire.
- Ewa Malinowska
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: Leaving the harbour, we were delighted to see that conditions had really improved and the sea was really calm. We even had some sun coming through which was nice. Not long into our tour we spotted some white-beaked dolphins. This was a pod of about 7 individuals which were quite active. They were swimming around and leaping out of the water which was super cool. They also got very close to the boat and seemed to even be watching us at times. After about 20 minutes of staying with them, we spotted another pod in the distance (approx. 5 individuals), who the previous pod seemed to join in with. This was also interesting to see, but as we were staying with these animals for quite a while, we decided to continue and sail on to find something else. Not long into our search, we spotted a minke whale surfacing a few hundred meters away. As we got closer this turned out to be two individuals actually, who were swimming close to one another. We were observing them for a while, and they also came quite to the boat. Staying with them for a while, we then again decided to move on and look for more wildlife. On the way we actually spotted a harbour porpoise, although as usual, they only surfaced two to three times before leaving us again. Before heading back, we found another minke which was awesome, making this a good trip already. But to put the icing on cake, on our way back, we were lucky enough to spot a basking shark!! This is a very rare encounter in the bay and everyone including the crew was excited to see this animal. Going home, we had a great trip to look back on and we hope for many more tours like this one!
- Friedrich Rittner
Tour at 14:00
Report from Hafsulan; We started our tour with very good sea conditions: it was perfectly flat. Other weather conditions weren't´t pleasant as we were going under heavy rain. Lucky it wasn´t last long, and after getting totally wet we had a chance to dry under sun and enjoy rainbows. Close to the city we spotted minke whale. Animal was traveling in the direction of the city so it was easy to follow and had a nice look. But then something else cached our attention: big black fin staying all the time on the surface. When we get closer we could see an amazing basking shark. Second one this summer! Shark was totally indifferent to us so we could spend long time next to it, it was bigger then rib boat! It was still just beginning of the tour so we went further to met pod 4 of white beaked-dolphins. When we were trying to follow them suddenly minke whale surface just next to us so first we heard powerful blow! After encounter with whale we spend rest of the time with dolphins. We found another pod, where we could recognized dolphins Sophie and Devil! It was amazing afternoon!
- Ewa Malinowska
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: We had wonderful conditions as we set sail out into the bay today with lovey calm flat seas and very little wind. It was raining slightly but that just enabled us to put the nice warm overalls we offer onboard to good use. On our tour today we saw three different minke whales, unfortunately, two of these minkes were being a bit elusive and only surfacing a few times before going for a longer dive and then popping up in another direction, so were a bit hard to follow. The last however, was much better and surfaced many times before arching and going for a longer dive. As we were making our way back to harbour we spotted a rather different species that we don't usually encounter on our tours, this large plankton feeding beast which can reach sizes of up to 9 meters. This really cool animal, swam close to the waters surface allowing us to see its large pointed dorsal fin and occasionally its vertical tail, it even surfaced right in front of us just 10 meters away! For those of you who haven't guessed what it is yet it was the incredible basking shark. What a wonderful way to end the tour! Although we got to see the shark pretty well we decided to hand out complimentary tickets allowing our passengers to come again for free in the hope that they would get a better look at the cetaceans they came to see.
- Tess Hudson
Tour at 10:00
Report from Hafsulan: The early tour of this morning started with a light rain and overcast sky but as soon as we left the harbour weather conditions improved considerably. Wind was coming from the east so it ensured a smooth sailing experience during the beginning of the tour. Our first encounter was a fast one, because we spotted two harbour porpoises swimming close to our boat. We wanted more so we tried to sail a little bit further in order to find more species and we did! Some splashes in the distance were the best indicator for white-beaked dolphins presence! It was a pod of 4-6 individuals and we were swimming with them for a while, even more some of them were jumping out of the water. After enjoying a while with them we went further trying to find something else but it seemed that species were still asleep this morning. In the way back home, we were able to see again the same pod of white-beaked dolphins saying goodbye to us. It was a great morning for whale watching despite the light rain that escorted us during the tour.
-Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: Sailing out we had little rough conditions with winds from east-south-east. As we were sailing through our main sighting area we spotted a minke whale which was surfacing a couple of times, although this minke seemed a little shy and the closest it got to the boat was roughly 100m. We continued to search after a while and found another minke, although this one seemed even more shy, which was a pitty. Luckily for us we soon after came across some white-beaked dolphins. This was a pod of about 6 individuals and they swam around and got quite close to the boat. This was awesome and all passengers got a really good look at these cetaceans.
- Friedrich Rittner
Birds seen on today's tours: northern gannet, atlantic puffin, common guillemot, northern fulmar, eider duck, great skua, pomeranian skua, arctic skua, greater black-backed gull, whimbrel and black-legged Kittiwake.
Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. There will be some movement on the boat and rain from time to time. On board there are heated indoor areas but we also have overalls to keep you warm out on deck. If you are sensitive to motion sickness we offer preventative tablets in the ticket office, free of charge! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact our ticket office at elding@elding.is or +354 519 5000.
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