MONDAY, 22 August 2016

Tour at 19:00

Report from Elding: The sea went flat as a mirror. Is hard to remember a night more quiet and peaceful in this bay. We headed out in the bay with 0 wind and almost no clouds, in the search of this magnificent animals. Almost 50 minutes after our departure, we spotted the first two animals of the night: a couple of minke whales surfacing together in the distance. When we approached the animals, we realized that both of them were chasing the schools of fishes that lately we have been seeing floating on the surface of almost everywhere in the bay. We managed to see a lunge feeding a couple of times. In the meantime, several harbour porpoises appeared traveling solitary all over the area, maybe feeding as well. We headed out into the bay to spot more animals but, unfortunately, we didn't manage to see them. But we did manage to see one of the most breathtaking sunsets, with a complete rainbow covering the sky from the fisherman's town of Akranes to Grotta, the famous lighthouse of Reykjavik. 

- Alberto Alejandro

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: I don´t think I´ve had a tour where I lost count of the number of whales that we saw! We headed out into Faxa Bay with glorious sunshine and perfectly calm seas which made for excellent spotting conditions. So much so that I spotted a blow about 3 miles away into the distance. We headed towards the blow and were greeted with shoals and shoals of jumping mackerel - it was a pretty incredible sight! As we scanned the horizon we spotted the dark back of a minke whale! And as we looked closer it became apparent that there was not just one but four of these animals! We got to simultaneously watch these whales surface and dive all around the boat - one within just 50 m of us! We ended up seeing numerous minke whales surfacing in every direction all around the boat - it was amazing to see so many minke whales at once. Surrounded by these animals we then spotted large splashes in the distance towards Snæfellsjökull. It turned out to be a pod of at least 6 white-beaked dolphins. We got to see these animals surface around the boat as well as bow-riding in our wake. We had a great encounter with these two species within Faxa bay which was made all the more glorious in the sunshine!

- Darcy Philpott

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: On our afternoon tour there was still plenty to see! The sea conditions had improved even more, even though they had already been nice in the morning as well. After about 45 min we encountered our first minke whale! We spent some time with this individual so that everyone could try their luck to take pictures, and then we decided to move on and keep searching for more animals. Again, a minke whale surfaced not far away from us and a second one a lot further in the distance. Unfortunately, the minke that had been closer to us spent a lot of time underwater and therefore, we moved on again. However, after just a couple of minutes we encountered a pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins. It took a while for us to get a nice look, but then they were slowly swimming along our boat and we all could admire this beautiful dolphin species. To not disturb them too much, we left them alone and headed over to an area in which more minke whales had been seen. We actually saw two more of these cute whales after some minutes of waiting patiently! And also harbour porpoises were around, a couple of them surfacing several times very close to the boat! Nice tour and great conditions!

- Hanna Michel

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: It was a beautiful sunny day as we set sail into Faxafloi bay, the sea was fairly calm and the wind not too strong. After sailing for only a short while large dark dorsal fins were spotted a few hundred metres in the distance. Once closer a large pod of 9 white-beaked dolphins surfaced. They came beautifully close surfacing only 3 metres from the boat!! Swimming all around us, it was so amazing to see their white and black patterned bodies underneath the waters surface. After watching these animals for some time It was decided to head further out into the bay to see if we could spot some other animals. However, the dolphins did not want to see us go as they began to play in the wake of our boat and surface just a few metres behind us! It was so wonderful to watch them leaping and porpoising out of the foaming water. Once further out into the bay a minke whale was spotted and another and another all at differing distances. So we decided on one individual and were able to watch it surface multiple times all the way around the boat. Coming up only 30 metres away at times. We even got the opportunity to hear this animal breathing. On our travel back to Reykjavik we saw a small pod of 3 harbour porpoises. Which surfaced in a lovely surface sequence before disappearing under the ocean. 

- Tess Hudson 

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: Another beautiful day in the Bay was ahead of us this morning! The first animals to make us smile were white-beaked dolphins, a group of 4 individuals. They gave us a bit of exercise on the boat, coming up here and there in different directions; but a couple of times we had them come closer to us and swim underneath the boat. After we were sure that everyone had gotten a good look at them, we kept on searching for something else. Reaching an area full of bait balls of mackerel, we were pretty sure that there were also cetaceans around. And right we were, at least two minke whales were feeding in the middle of the mackerel paradise. We got to see a few lunges and the minke whales came up frequently and sometimes just 30-40 m away from the boat. On our way back to the harbor we saw another minke whale considerably closer to land! And as usual I must not forget the harbour porpoises on our way out in the Bay, 2-3 individuals. Loads of life in the Bay these days so come join us on a tour!

- Hanna Michel

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: It was so warm and sunny when we left the harbour this morning that one could have easily mistaken Faxa Bay for the Mediterranean Sea ! Exaggeration aside, it was pleasant conditions that greeted us, and we could start the day in excellent mood. The first cetaceans we found were harbour porpoises, but they vanished as quickly as they came. Second on the list was a minke whale. We spotted it from far away and could easily catch up with it and have nice looks. Then we heard from other boats about white-beaked dolphins, so we obliged and met those playful animals. We saw 2-3 different pods, and there was about 20 individuals in total. One of them proved to be more entertaining as it came close to our vessel and jumped several time out of the water. After staying a long time with them, we left because we saw water splashes in the distance. When we checked the source of this turmoil, we found different huge schools of mackerels swarming at surface, and with them was two other minke whales feeding in the area. We could have excellent sightings with one of the minkes, and even ended up doing some fish watching ! It was quite mesmerising to see the water agitated by the movements of the fish. On due time we headed back home and quickly saw a last minke whale before reaching the harbour.

- Guillaume Calcagni
 

Bird species seen on todays tours: atlantic puffin, northern gannet, kittiwake, lesser black-backed gull, arctic skua, common guillemot, black guillemot, manx shearwater, sooty shearwater, arctic tern & northern fulmar.