Saturday, 14 June 2014

Tour at at 17:00Report from Hafsúlan: The sun came out and we had the most perfect weather this afternoon. Close to the harbour we spotted the first Minke whale which surfaced calmly but was very elusive so it swam away quickly. As we sailed around we spotted 3-4 more minke whales but like the first one, they all seemed to be quite elusive and hard to follow although we did manage to get a good look at them. We kept on searching and the wild life in the bay seemed to be calm accept from 6-9 Harbour porpoises that surfaced quickly around the boat. As our time was running out we headed back towards the harbour, but to our surprise we met a pod of 12-16 White-beaked dolphins. The dolphins were amazing as the interacted with the boat, swam close and even under the boat, surfacing right next to us so we got a great look at them coming up from the surface as well as under the surface! They even played in the waves from the boat. We headed back with a big smile on our faces as the dolphins had definately made this trip amazing!- Freydís Ósk

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: In addition to almost no wind this afternoon the skies also cleared up a fair bit throughout the tour and allowed a few sun rays to penetrate the thick overcast. We only left the harbour when suddenly a Minke Whale surfaced close by the Island of Akurey. Soon after this individual had surfaced several times, another Minke Whale was spotted close by and we choose to spend some time with them before heading further out into the Bay of Flaxafloí. Word of a small pod of White Beaked Dolphins got our attention. The 4-6 individual strong pod traveled in a tight formation and moved from side to side of the vessel, but came as close as 30 meters to our boat. After a while we made out 2-3 Minke Whales towards the direction of the Whale Fjord. One individual was passing by us as close as 20 meters to the vessel. Another one gave us a real good look at its dorsal fin. Later we were able to identify that individual as Shark, which has been recited now within a week. At one stage we were encircled by several individuals so that in either direction the passengers were able to follow one or two whales. What a great end for a fantastic tour.

-Dominik Schmid

Tour at 13:00Report from Hafsúlan: The weather was so calm in the afternoon that the ocean was almost like a mirror. Very close to the harbour, after only about 15 minutes sailing, 2 Minke whales were spotted ! It was fun to begin the sightings right away and we managed to see one of the minke's for a couple of times. The animals seemed to be very calm but took long deep dives inbetween surfacing. After a while we decided to head furhter out and try to find more animals. When we got to the area where we were this morning we spotted 4 more minke whales. one of them was feeding among a flock of birds and even rolled two times so we got a good look at the white belly! The minke's surfaced often around us and sometimes very close, we were even able to smell the "bad breath" of the minke'sAs we headed back to the harbour we were going to try to take another look at the minke whales that were close to the harbour, but unfortunately they had swam away as we got there. It was a great tour in a nice and calm weather with a bunch of minke whales!- Freydís Ósk

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: As the water was clear as glass and calm we headed out to new adventures in almost perfect whale watching conditions. Already, 10 minutes into the tour we viewed the first Minke Whale as close as 50 meters from the vessel. The sighting was unexpected, but soon we headed out further into the Bay, as we got word of one pod of 5-6 White Beaked Dolphins. On our travels we encountered 3-4 other Minke Whales in some proximity to the boat. When we finally found the White-Beaked Dolphins, we also saw a large splash far in distance. Considering the size and way this animal breached, the captain and guide agreed, that it must have been a Humpack Whale. It was repeating the breaching behaviour for 8 more times. However, when we came close to the area we were unable to rediscover the Humpback Whale. Heading back to shore we found yet another pod of White Beaked Dolphins in a very joyful and interactive mood: leaping and jumping. Suddenly, a small 4-6 individual strong pod of Harbour Porpoises appeared just in front of the vessel and sticked around for a couple of surfaces. But even close to the harbour we were able to spot another Minke Whale. Overall, a whale of a trip.

- Dominik Schmid

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The Faxaflói Bay was awaiting us with almost no wind and no swell. These are ideal conditions to spot any irregularity on the water surface even from a distance. The calm sea was silvery gray under the cloud cover. We passed a flock of resting puffins on our way out and shortly after we found the first Minke Whale. It was 1 out of 4 we had around us while we stopped in the area. Sometimes 3 of them surfaced simultaneously but not being very close to each other, other times they crossed each other within a body length. So we could look in different directions observing. Suddenly "Flickr" a Minke Whale we saw every year since 2009 popped up right in front of us and very close by. "Flickr" seems to be a curious one liking to come close and maybe liking to do human watching. Higher up we had the chance to see its white bands on its pectoral fins. We went on a bit and spotted more minkes towards the horizon but at least 7 we could observe well. We heard about dolphins being around so we headed out further towards the open ocean where we found a pod of at least 6 White Beaked Dolphins which had been traveling in a tight group. One of them looked smaller so probably it was a calf. So we had a great trip!

-Carine Zimmermann

Birds seen on today's tours include: Fulmars, puffins, arctic terns, kittiwakes, black-backed seagulls, arctic skua, common guillemots, eider ducks, bridled guillemots, grey.