Saturday, 13 March 2010

Tour at 13:00:

Report from Hafsúlan: The weather was great again today, there was some swell since the wind was blowing from the west but it was still and warm outside. Our other boat Elding went out as well, they left about 30 minutes earlier than we did and found a huge pod of White-beaked Dolphins, we headed straight to that area and found them as well. They were very busy feeding, all round us and we are guessing that there were at least 300-400 individuals there. Some were jumping out of the water and others were very focused, feeding as much as they could, coming slowly up to the surface to breath. We then headed further out and soon we spotted a blow. There they were our friends from yesterday two Humpback Whales. They were feeding the whole time we were there. Rolling in the surface, slapping the tail and at some point one of them was waving at us, more than once, reaching one of its pectoral fins high up in the air and shaking it back and forth. Again they were very beautiful and nice to look at. On the way back to the harbour we spotted the White-beaked Dolphins again and briefly some Harbour Porpoises as well.

Report from Elding: We had some really nice weather today, and the sea was pretty calm, although there was a little bit of swell. We headed straight towards the area where we had the Humpback whales yesterday but along the way had to stop, as we saw a huge group of white-beaked dolphins. There were probably 3-400 animals there in one huge group. We stayed with them for 15-20 minutes and they were really playful, always swimming under the boat and staying very close, some of them even jumping up!! A really spectacular sighting, but we headed further out to find the bigger whales. We spotted a blow about 30 minutes later and we turned the boat. We spotted a Minke whale, the first of the season! A really nice surprise for the passengers and the crew, but we got a call from our other boat, Hafsúlan, telling us they found the Humpback whales just a few hundred meters away. We went to observe the Humpback whales, which were really great, always staying close to the boat, sometimes slapping the flukes and flippers on the surface. We stayed with them for the rest of the trip but had to say goodbye and head home after about 40 minutes with them. A really fantastic trip :)