Monday, 4 July 2022

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 13:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 20:00 Premium Whale tours and on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00, 17:00 and 20:30 Classic Whale Watching tours. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land.

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 16:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 20:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 20:30

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: Very good sea conditions during this 9am tour, a little bit windy but very sunny. We left the harbour and after 40 mins arriving in the hotspot area we started to see a lot of birds feeding. So we kept our eyes opened hoping to see something very soon. We spotted our first humpback whale, mostly feeding as it did some shallow dive. 1 minke whale also came up at the surface but very elusive. We decided to leave the humpback after few mins as it kept diving and the area started to be very crowded with the other whale watching boats around the whale. After few mins we spotted 5 individuals of white beaked dolphins with 2 calves. They came towards our boat, bow riding for few mins and then left. Another 1 minke whale appeared a bit far as well and came up several time at the surface. We kept following our road and we spotted another group of birds feeding and suddendly 1 minke whale showed a bit more is mouth at the surface to feed and came up close to our boat. We stayed few mins in case it comes back. This minke whale jumped at the a little bit very close to our boat, probably feeding too. Then we started to head back to Reykjavik. On the way back, we spotted another 1 minke whale, again very close to our boat and surfaced two times. And few mins later, 1 harbour porpoise came up at the surface only one time.

- Enorha Guimard

Report from Elding: My god it was warm today, the sun baring down upon us as we headed out to sea. Very quickly we found our first minke whale, however as it was travelling fast away from us we decided to move on. Some time after this we discovered a second minke whale, before being interrupted by an absolutely amazing sight, a humpback whale and a pod of 10 white-beaked dolphins were diving and feeding together right by our boat. Some dolphins broke off the main group and came up to us to say hi, but everytime that whale resurfaced, at least 4 dolphins surfaced with it in formation. Turning off our engines, these beautiful animals stayed close to us taking multiple dives together and giving off powerful blows everytime they resurfaced together. The dolphins were most likely waiting for the whale to disrupt the group of fish below so they could pick off animals that seperated from the school. As the dolphins decided to leave we stayed with the humpback, who was now resting on the surface, and another minke whale that had just appeared as well. Soon after the whale dove for one last time and we began to leave these animals, managing to spot another our 4th, 5th and 6th minke whale on our way back to port from an such an awesome trip.

- Liam van Walsum

Report from Eldey: Beautiful sunny afternoon with almost no wind, and with amazing surroundings that made it nice to be outside. We sailed out to the bay and found many flocks of feeding seabirds. After 40 minutes we spotted our first of at least 12 minke whales. It just surfaced in front of us! It surfaced three times, and eventually it appeared really close before taking a dive. After a couple of minutes we spotted the whale again and you could see that it was swimming peaceful probably milling. It toke a deeper dive and then we waited with patience and everyone was searching the surface for any signs of the whale. Suddenly one after another minke whale surfaced around our boat. 7 minke whales quite close and 5 further away. When we had to say good bye to the cetaceans to return to the harbor of Reykjavik, everybody had gotten great views of these interesting sneaky minke whales. It was definitely a minke whale tour.

- Estel Sanchez

Report from my Elding: perfect day at sea today, with no waves, no wind, no rain, and mostly sunny, although with some clouds. The sightings started out great with a minke whale surprising us quite close to the ship. The minke looked like it was feeding, changing direction often and going for long dives. After leaving this individual alone, we met some harbor porpoises, which passed quickly in front of us, travelling north. We sailed towards a spot where two humpback whales were spotted, and there they were, feeding together with many arctic terns. Beautiful up-close sighting, thanks to the fact that they were also chilling at the surface for quite a long time, after the long dives. During this sighting and on the way back we saw also many minke whales, which were probably feeding in the bay, which seemed plentiful of food today.

-Francesco Golin

Report from Eldey: Still very good conditions during this 5pm tour, less sunny than in the morning but it did not decrease our chance to spot the animals. After arriving in the hotspot area, 1 minke whale surfaced very quickly but we did not stop as we were on the way to see more animals a bit further. Few minutes later, we spotted 2 humpback whales and another 1 minke whale. This one was quite elusive comparing to the humpback as they were staying few mins at the surface to breath and did some several deep dives by showing their fluke. The minke whale was still in the area and showed up several times, feeding as well. We stayed 15 mins with these humpback until we start to head back to Reykjavik. On the way again we spotted 1 very quick harbour porpoise very close to our boat.

- Enorha Guimard

Report from Elding: calm evening in Faxaflói bay. Very little waves and wind, which made the sail very comfortable, although the overcast sky cooled down the people on the ship. The sightings started out great with some white beaked dolphins, a pod which included a juvenile that was jumping out of the water very often. The dolphins were also coming very close to the ship, checking us out and passing underneath us. We then sailed out and saw four minke whales in four separate instances, and it was incredible how close we managed to get close to these small but very fast whales.

-Francesco Golin

Common guillemot, Atlantic puffin, Arctic tern, herring gull, lesser black-backed gull, greater black-backed gull, northern fulmar, northern gannet, black-legged kittiwake, Icelandic gull, Arctic skua.