Monday, 21 July 2025

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 20:30
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR |10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 20:00

Report from Eldey: Sailing out this foggy morning, we knew that it would be a bit of a tricky day to spot our cetaceans. Nevertheless, we managed to have a great tour, spotting 3 of our 4 main species through the thick white layer hovering the sea ! Starting with 4 minke whales popping off around us, we knew we had entered a feeding zone, as more and more birds surrounded us. With such calm sea conditions, it was really nice to be able to see so many minke whales all around us! Some even surfaced nice and close to the boat. This is when we found a humpback whale, with which we stayed for quite a while, fluking up and down for all to enjoy. At one point this humpback came nice and close to say hello. With so many surface sequences and fluke views we found this humpback to be very enjoyable. As we headed back, we even managed to see a small pod of five white beaked dolphins. They were on the move and so we enjoyed them on the go. With three of our four common species sighted, even through the thick fog, we counted ourselves very lucky and headed back to port.

-Samantha Smith

Report from Hafsulan: Although visibility remains limited these days, due to the amount of fog covering Faxaflói Bay, today we definitely saw an improvement, with slightly better visibility and calm seas. This allowed us to search for the whales more easily and, soon enough, we had our first sighting of 2 minke whales. We managed to observe them multiple times, while they surfaced for air, before diving back into the depths of the ocean. After leaving these whales, we were rapidly surprised by a new sighting. A group of 8 white-beaked dolphins found us (instead of us finding them), and rapidly approached to  investigate our ship. After interacting with these social animals for a while, they eventually lost interest and left the area, while we continued our search. The fun thing is that, some five minutes later, we sighted a 3rd species, as a pair of harbour porpoises passed by, fast-swimming ahead of our ship. These are easily the shiest species on our tours, and just as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared again, allowing only a part of our passengers to spot them. Nevertheless, it didn´t take long for us to see our 4th and final species, a lonely, but large humpback whale hunting in the company of hundreds of seabirds (kittiwakes, artic terns, northern fulmars and black-backed gulls). This humpback was lunge-feeding, bringing the fish up, before swallowing them at the surface, giving us a great view of its giant head. After this spectacular show, we headed back to Reykjavík, having seen all the 4 species we tend to find in our tour.

- Ricardo

Report from Eldey: Out into the fog we ventured to find who was out and about! Out of the fog we came across 1 pod of five white beaked dolphins! This pod gave us a nice show with multiple surface sequences nice and close! We traveled along with this pod for a bit and then waved them goodbye and continued on to see who else was out and about. Shortly after we had a quick surface sequence from one  minke whale. This individuals was traveling and so we enjoyed the brief viewing before continuing onward. After a few more minutes we spotted the blow of our next cetacean, one  humpback whale! We were treated to a fabulous fluke dive right away. While awaiting this humpback, we spotted some splashes and another blow ahead, so we went to check it out. We came across another pod of ten white beaked dolphins! They were breaching and creating quite the spectacle for us to enjoy. There was also another humpback whales in this area that gave us some more fabulous fluke views. And then we saw the splashes of another humpback whale that was peduncle throwing! There was also a minke whales popping up periodically in the area. With so much commotion in one area we had certainly found the bay buffet. We then had both humpbacks on either side of the boat lunge feeding separately, one of them making bubble lines to feed ! With so much action and three of our four common species sighted, we counted ourselves lucky and headed to port. What a great tour.

-Alexandre Paumier

Report from Hafsulan: We set off into a thick mist, the ocean and sky blending into one soft grey canvas.  After a while, our patience was rewarded — a minke whale surfaced briefly. It appeared twice, just long enough to catch its smooth back and small dorsal fin before disappearing without a trace. A brief, almost ghostly encounter. We pressed on, eyes sweeping the misty horizon. Then, the unmistakable blow of a humpback whale — and then another, just nearby. Two humpbacks were in the area. We focused on the more active one, which was regularly lunge feeding just meters from the boat. Mouth wide, surfacing with power and purpose every few minutes — it was incredible to witness so close. As the action continued, a pod of 10 white-beaked dolphins arrived, bursting into the scene with high, arching leaps and playful energy. They were everywhere — weaving around the whales, dancing through the waves, turning the water alive with motion. Just as we were about to leave, a third humpback appeared, joining the scene and adding to the sense that we’d stumbled into a hidden, mist-shrouded corner of the ocean where everything was happening all at once.

-Aleksandra Lechwar

Report from Elding: The everlasting volcanic haze was still overhead but the seas conditions were still very calm, with only small waves forming. After searching around we found a great area with 4 humpback whales, the first one we encountered gave us an incredible show with breaches, pecslaps and pecuncle throws. We stayed with this animal until the exhaustion took the best of him and he finally settled for long slow dives. We then travelled between the other 3 humpbacks for the remainder of the tour, as we got to witness 2 of them breach multiple times in the distance aswell. Inbetween we also spotted a pod of around 6 white-beaked dolphins jumping in the distance, and out of nowhere they showed up right alongside us, clearly checking out our boat! To top it all of, we also spotted a minke whale right next to a humpback as they were feeding on the same school of fish. What a night!

Milan Vansteelandt

Atlantic puffin, common guillemot, Northern gannet, Northern fulmar, black legged kittiwake, black guillemot, lesser and greater black backed gull, Arctic tern, eider ducks