MONDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2016

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: We left the harbour in perfect conditions. The sea was so smooth that the surface was like glass, there was hardly any wind and it had even warmed up a bit since this morning. We didn't have to sail for a long time before we spotted our first pod of 7-8 white-beaked dolphins. They were traveling fast towards a flock of feeding seabirds and there was actually another pod there of about 5-6 individuals. They were feeding and there was definitely plenty of food in the area because there was even a third pod not far off with about 9-10 individuals. There were so many dolphins around and we were actually surrounded at one point. When we had stayed with them for a while we headed further out and soon spotted a minke whale. It was hard to keep track off it because it was traveling fast and changing directions a lot but then we saw another one so we could watch them in turns. There might even have been a third minke whale but I didn't see it close enough to be sure that it wasn't one of the two we had already seen. When we were about to head back to the harbour we spotted a fourth pod of 6-7 white-beaked dolphins leaping in the distance. They came really close to the boat and because the sea surface was so smooth we were able to see them very clearly swimming under the surface! Then they started leaping again and one of them even did a few backward leaps for us! He then started head-slamming and ended his show with a tail-slap. What an awesome day!

- Bryndís Ösp

Tour at 9:00

Report from Eldey: What a day! The weather could not be better. Beautiful light all over the bay and good visibility made our life way easier. However, it took us quite a long time to find our first cetacean. After about an hour of sailing we came across a minke whale! Several surfacings and a couple of dives left the audience in awe but shortly after we lost track of it. In my opinion, It was most likely travelling in the bay. Right after that we went a bit further out in order to find more species and bam!there they were!our beloved white-beaked dolphins. I counted at least 6 individuals in the pod. They seemed to be in a rush changing directions pretty "randomly" but I am pretty sure these were feeding close to the surface. We also saw a mackerel fishing vessel in the surroundings so it might be that these animals were checking out the area too. Unfortunately, we were running out of time so we had to head back home. The passengers did not mind much as they seemed to be satisfied and happy with the tour today. We had a very active and passionate audience today who helped the crew to spot the animals! lovely tour!

- Jorge Pascual

Birds seen on today´s tours: cormorant, northern gannet, razorbill, lesser black-backed gull, glaucous gull, greater black-backed gull, eider duck.

Tour Status 13: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. There is a very light wind blowing from NE (2-4 m/s).

Tour Status 9am: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. There is a very light wind blowing from the east (4-6 m/s). There might be some rain during the 9 o'clock tour.