MONDAY, 4 JULY 2016

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: As if we were coming back from France too, the whole crew and passengers had a smile upon their face. Respect to the Icelandic team in the Eurocup. Anyway, coming back to our tour, the sea conditions and weather were really great. We could see the Snaefellsness peninsula very well. Also a lot of flocks of birds were diving in the way around the boat. Our fish finder (A low frequency sonar we have on board that´s pointing out at the bottom of the bay only underneath the boat) told us there was a lot of fish in the area too. Both indicators brought us to a humpback whale! Very impressive animal I have been missing for more than a week here in the bay but, the boys are back in town now! It showed us its fluke a couple of times so everyone on board could see it well. It looked like it was feeding and going for deep dives every now and then. Also the background with Akranes and the Whale fjord was great for pictures. After 40 minutes enjoying and waiting for the whale to come up a few times in between breaths we had to go back to Reykjavik as we were running out of time. Lovely trip with lovely live music at the end. Thanks Bjarni for an amazing performance too! 

- Jorge Pascual

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: We sailed out in glorious sunshine as we headed out into Faxaflói bay in search of wildlife. After only half an hour we spotted a blow and huge splashes about 2 km away. As we edged our way closer the splashes from this animal became more and more pronounced and we could identify this individual as the humpback whale. Less than 1 km away we witnessed this animal breach! We watched this humpback surface and dive within less than 30 m from the boat - with very short dive intervals, allowing our passengers to get a full glimpse of it's dark back and stumpy dorsal fin. After spending 30 minutes with this animal we decided to respect this individual and travel in search of more wildlife. As we headed round the bay in an arch we caught a flash of the minke whale travelling at some speed! We were further alerted to its presence by catching a whiff of it's foul smelling breath! We were able to watch this animal surface and dive within 200 m of the boat before then going for a deeper dive. As we waited for this animal to surface we were caught by surprise by a pod of 2-3 harbour porpoises who jumped playfully towards the boat. We were able to catch a rare glimpse of the full body of these animals and watched several surface sequences. Unfortunately the minke whale evaded our view and we headed back towards Reykjavik basked in the warm evening sun.

- Darcy Philpott 

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The wind had picked up a little bit in the afternoon, but the weather was still gorgeous and we admired the landscape as we headed out into the bay. We decided to check out an area a bit further North from where the other boats were. We spotted a first minke whale and followed it for a little bit - but it was quite difficult to see as it was heading away from us. Following IceWhale's code of conduct we waited until it was time for some of the other boats to head back towards Reykjavík to make our way to the area where they had been watching a humpback whale. We saw a few large blows but had a hard time keeping up with the whale as it kept changing direction. The fish finder on board told us that there was quite a bit of fish in the water below - this might explain the unpredictable surfacings of this animal. But then suddenly there was a big splash not far from us - the whale had done a half breach out of the water! While we were waiting to see the humpback one more time before heading back we had a minke whale showing itself nicely as it calmly passed along one side of the boat. The humpback's last surfacing was close to the boat and enabled us to get some very nice looks at this large animal before we enjoyed the evening sun on the way back.

- Linda

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: The sun continued to shine for our second tour of the day on this boat. It was a little windier than the first trip and the skies were partially cloudy with clear views of the stunning scenery surrounding Faxafloi. About half an hour after leaving the harbour, we had our first encounter. It was a minke whale which surfaced a few times and then another minke whale appeared. The second one surfaced a few times quite close to the boat. One of the researchers then spotted a large blow in the distance so we set off to investigate. The blow was from a humpback whale which we watched for some time. As we were watching it, a minke whale surfaced a few times about 50m from the side of the ship. It turned out to be Humpy, a minke whale who had lost the top part of the dorsal fin. This whale was sighted in the Bay back in 2007 and has been a number of times since. It was also fantastic to see  the humpback whale surface a number of times before taking deeper dives. It revealed its flukes a couple of times but then seemed to take shallower dives as although it arched its back, it did not fluke. It was time to move on as other whale watching boats had gathered and we did not want to crowd the whale. This could have possibly caused the whale some distress so we headed off in search of other animals. It was time to head back so many passengers enjoyed the sunshine and the stunning views for a very pleasant sail back to the harbour.

- Julia Benson

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: We were blessed with glorious sunshine and so few clouds on today´s tour, which made for great sightings conditions. On our way out some passengers spotted a pod of 3-5 harbour porpoises making a splash at the water´s surface, however they chose the worst spot, right in the glare on the water, so we continued further out. We had heard from one of the RIB boats that they had a whale in the area, so we went and investigated but to no avail. About 5 minutes after leaving that area we came across another pair of minke whales! When they were first spotted they were both lunging out the water, likely feeding, but then began to travel away from us towards Reykjavik. Although we didn´t stay long it was great to see this behaviour by 2 individuals no less. We then headed north and after 20 minutes came across a large, sleeping humpback whale! During the 45 minutes we spent with this individual it did not dive under the water for more than a minute at a time, which made for an amazing encounter. The passengers could clearly see when it´s dark body was about to come up to the surface, could make out the massive white pectoral flippers by its side, the tubercles on its head and even the outline of its fluke although it did not raise it completely out the water. This was a really special experience for those on board, to see how this whale was completely comfortable with us being there and being able to just drift parallel to its course. I will not forget this encounter in a hurry! Many people stayed outside the whole way back, and were rewarded with a few more porpoises along with the beautiful sunshine. 

- Ophelie

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: It was a beautiful sunny day on the  sail out into Faxafloi bay. After only a short trip out our first species of the tour was spotted. A minke whale surfaced only 100 meters in front of us, it surfaced multiple times and swam the whole way around the boat. After viewing this animal for some time a further two minke whales were spotted in the near distance, so we headed towards them. Once closer we were able to see these animals surface beautifully close. One individual we were able to recognize as humpie, as this individual is missing the majority of its dorsal fin. After seeing these animals surface regularly it was decided to move further off into the bay to lessen our disturbance on these animals and see if we could find some other animals. A small pod of 3-4 harbour porpoises were spotted surfacing a few times and only 50 meters from the boat. After only a short sail out into the bay a blow was spotted some distance out, as we neared we were able to identify this animal as a humpback whale. Once closer this individual surfaced many times in a slow and steady pattern and therefore, it could have been resting as it was surfacing in the same place. This animal surfaced numerous times and even produced a few rainblows (when it breathed out and created a blow, the light from the sun refracted off it causing a rainbow to form). This animal even raised its fluke for us a few times and so we were able to get a wonderful look at this rather large individual. It was them time to turn and start the journey back to Reykjavik so as we sailed back enjoying the sun and were even greeted by yet another minke whale on the way. 

- Tess Hudson

Birds seen on today´s tours: atlantic puffin, northern gannet, common guillemot, black-legged kittiwake, arctic tern, arctic skua, northern fulmar & black-backed gull

Status: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik on this beautiful day. Almost no clouds and little to no wind but it can be a bit more windy out on the Faxabay and there could always be a little movement on the boat. Hope that you are able to join us and see these wonderful animals in their natural habitat.