Tour at 2030
Tour at 1700
Report from Hafsúlan We stopped again on our way out at Akurey to see the Puffins. Then we headed far out into the bay, where the wind picked up a little bit. We searched for a long time until we spotted the first Minke Whale af the tour. It showed only shortly and we switched to a pod of 5 to 10 White Beaked Dolphins. They seemed to be illusive so and we had heared about a second pod where we went to. Those were 7 to 9 individuals and they were great to look at. The highlight of the tour was to see them jumping out of the water and spinning around, not more than 20 meter away! WOW!! What a great end of a tour we had to search for a long time.
Tour at 1400
Report from Elding: Both the weather and the whales changed on this tour. The wind picked up a bit and the whales became a little more difficult and less abundant. We did get some nice close surfaces from a couple though as they were feeding on the fish under the boat. We got to see maybe 6-8 Minke Whales in this tour and a quick glimpse of passing Harbour Porpoises. Not as good as the morning tours but still perfect conditions to be out at sea and great whales as an added bonus. We once again ended the tour at Akurey (puffin island) and it was really interesting to see all the puffins huddled together on the rocks close to the boat. Great ending for a great tour.
Tour at 1300
Report from Hafsúlan: Again calm sea and good weather in faxafloi bay. It didn't take that long to find the first minke whales. We´ve seen in total throughout the tour 8-10 minke whales and some other individuals far in the distance. They were in several different areas that we could choose where to go and which one approach. We had some good ones close to the boat and could hear well the breath, and one Minke even showed us three nice blows or exhaled breath (small geyser or cloud of water going up ), but they were most of the time busy diving and feeding, not surfacing a lot at once. People got a good look at the minkies though and went back happy, but before we headed back we saw three minkies in the same area really close to each other. We also saw harbour porpoises quickly two times, and finnished our tour at Akurey puffin island.
Tour at 1000
Report from Elding: Incredible morning out in the bay. Not only was the sea calm and skies clear but the whale were awesome. Throughout the tour we must of seen 20+ Minke Whales, of course a lot of them were in the distance but it was also astounding that we could see whales so far away. At one point we drifted over a school of fish and had Minke whales surfacing just meters from the boat. We then got word from another whale watching vessel about a pod of White-beaked Dolphins (10-15 individuals) which were obviously too busy trying to catch some fish as they were wizzing one way and then the other but we were able to get a great look at them before they headed off towards Snæefellsjökull. Just before the dolphins headed away we had dolphins at 1 o´clock and about 5 Minke Whales surfacing close all around the boat to the point that we didn´t know where to look or whether we should stay with the Minke Whales or follow the dolphins. They were travelling so fast that we decided to stay. On the way back to land we were also lucky to spot a small pod of Harbour Porpoises (2-4 individuals). We ended this busy tour at Puffin Island to also watch the busy puffins.
Tour at 0900
Report from Skrúður: This morning was an amazing tour with just perfect weather, and we couldn't see a calmer and flatter sea than this. We didn't have to go far just 10-15 min of sailing after visiting the puffin island Akurey, to find 3 species in the same area on this tour. So first, a small pod of white beaked dolphins, and later even another one, as well as a nice big pod of harbour porpoises swimming really tight to each other, and great minke whales coming really close to the boat making our french guests happier than ever. We saw several times other groups of porpoises. Was really a productive morning, seemed like there was a lot of food in the bay. We finnished our tour with a third amazing big pod of 10-15 white beaked dolphins that we followed a bit longer, swimming sometimes fast or slow, changing directions. As the sea was mirror flat, it was beautiful and easy to spot the minke whales (4-6 during the tour) and to see the dolphins surfacing. The minkies were great, all around and showed a lot their heads and blow holes, and all of this just so close to Reykjavík, with the capital city of Iceland in the background.
Here are few photos taken on the 9 o'clock tour by Guðlaugur Ottesen Karlsson and Megan Whitaker