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Saturday, 11 August 2012

Tour at 17:00 and 20:30

Due to bad weather unfortunately we had to cancel our evening tour.

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: Gay Pride Minke Whale Extravaganza. This tour was great, not only did we go to a new island to see the Puffins but the Minke Whale we saw was incredible, most likely in celebration of Gay Pride. We went to Engey to see the puffins on this tour which was new for us as it was thought that Puffins breed only on two island close to the city but now there seems to be a third, expanding their breeding colonies one gathers. We then sailed offshore and it wasn´t long until we found a Minke Whale which was rolling and lunge feeding, unfortunately the swell covered a couple of these actions but it was obvious, the whale was surface feeding. Behaviours that are not seen everyday. What added to the sighting was the seabirds as there were gannets diving in to the water from great heights. The weather was still not that good but the wildlife was AWESOME!

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The weather was still a little bit harsh on our midday tour - the boat was rolling with the waves, it was a little bit rocky and it was also raining the whole time. We searched very long in our bay but finally at the end of our tour we found a minke whale. Although it surfaced only a few times we enjoyed it after the long search. Once the whale surfaced only a few meters from the boat.

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: The weather today was a little bit of an adventure for us because of the residual swell from the previous days strong winds and the rain which felt like pins hitting the face as we sailed into the wind which, was all part of the adventure. We started the tour at Lundey to see the Puffins and we were so glad we did as there were loads. After a couple of minutes with the parrots of the sea we headed offshore. After about 40 minutes of sailing we got word from our sister vessel Hafsúlan of a Minke Whale they found, we were off. We got to see this lovely Minke Whale many times and on a couple of occasions it surfaced just 20-30 meters from the boat. It was a bit of a challenging Minke Whale as it was constantly changing direction and surfacing here and there but it provided a fun game for the guide and passengers to see who could spot the whale first. Fun tour.

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Not the best of weathers today as there was some residual swell from yesterdays strong winds and rain to contend with but it was fun holding on to the rails and bending your knees with the swell. There were at least two Minke Whales around the area on this tour but almost no one saw them as they surfaced only once. It took us a while longer before we came across a small pod (3-5) of White-beaked Dolphins and a Minke Whale that surfaced close to them but just once. We managed to follow the dolphins for a good while until they went for a long dive and disappeared. Then we headed towards Reykjavik (we were relatively close by in any case) and all of a sudden a Minke Whale. We saw 1-2 whales very well and spent a while with them before heading back home. Not the best tour weather-wise but good in terms of wildlife.

Seabirds seen on todays tours include; Puffins, Gannets, Manx Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Guillemots, Razorbills, Eider Ducks, Cormorants, Black-backed Gulls, Kittiwakes, Arctic Terns, Great Skuas and Fulmars.