Monday, 4 April 2022

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00

Today we will be operating on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 09:00 and 13:00 Classic Whale Watching tours. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land.

COVID-19: Keep in mind that passengers and crew are asked to ensure their own hygiene and safety at all times. Washing hands thoroughly with soap and using a hand sanitiser is advised. Masks are not mandatory but are recommended in areas where keeping distance from others is not possible.

Report from Eldey: The sea was a bit more choppy today and the wind stronger, making the tour cold but not that rocky, the swell being only 1 meter high. We had snow in the beginning of the tour brought by the eastern wind and sun in the end. There was a lot of clouds but the light was beautiful giving us nice views on the landscape. We needed around an hour before we spotted a humpback whale. We saw it twice and then we were not seeing it for at least 15 minutes. While we were waiting we saw a beautiful northern gannet gliding just near our boat. The humpback reappeared further away, closer to the land. We approached and could have a nice view on this humpback whale and recognize the individual. It was Mariupol that we have been observing many times last year and again last month. It seemed that the animal was travelling, going toward the mountain Esja and not diving frequently. It was a great encounter and when we saw for a second and last time the fluke of this cetacean, we decided to leave that individual go closer to the land and then to head back to the harbour.

- Miquel Pons

Report from Eldey: We sailed out into the wind and light rain, heading towards the same area where Mariupol was spotted this morning. While travelling to this part of the bay, we saw plenty of birds, including some oystercatchers that flew close to the front of the boat. We then saw our first sighting, a pod of white-beaked dolphins. The pod was 3 or 4 individuals, and they surfaced a few times around the boat and swam off into the waves after around 10 minutes. Not long after a blow was spotted in the distance and as we headed towards it. As we got closer, we saw that it was a humpback whale! Soon after we arrived, the individual gave us a good view of their fluke and we were able to identify them as a different whale to the one seen this morning. This time we had encountered Neila! She went for a few deeper dives, showing us her fluke and even gave us a wave with her pectoral fin. After watching Neila for a while, we had to leave and head back to the harbour sipping on our hot drinks and warming up again after a wonderful tour.

-Emily Erskine

Black-legged kittiwake, herring gull, black-backed gull, eider duck, northern fulmar, long-tailed duck, northern gannet, black guillemot, oystercatcher.