Saturday, 15 November 2025

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 13:00

Today's whale watching tour from Reykjavík is on schedule! Remember to dress according to weather and feel free to borrow our thermal overalls if needed!

Report from Hafsulan: This morning we set out of the harbour in the dark, just before sunrise. We started our search around the islands as usual but at first didn't see any signs of cetaceans. We started to head a little further out but then one of the other whale watching boats let us know they had seen something! As we approached, we saw that it was a humpback whale! It was the same humpback that has been hanging around the islands for a few weeks now, known as Banana. Today they were very sleepy, logging at the surface for long times so we could see their whole body through the water. We followed them for a while, and sometimes when they were asleep at the surface, the humpback would drift towards us but it didn't seem to mind. After watching them for a while, we decided to head back to the harbour. When we were almost at the entrance, we saw a minke whale! What a last minute surprise! We watched this individual as it fed close to Engey and the harbour wall. While we were watching it, we also spotted 2 harbour porpoises very briefly. What a way to end the morning.

- Emily Erskine

Report from Hafsulan: 

We headed out with fog and light rain, so it was hard to see something, but thankfully the Humpback Whale from the morning tour was still around in the area, so we found him already after about 15 minutes of sailing. He was a little bit more active, but still sleepy. So we saw sequences of breathing and fluke dives. After a while we left him, so we could sail around in the search for something else and give the humpback a break. We couldn't find anything else, so we tried to find our humpback again. It made some way from where we last had seen it. And it was fully awake this time. So it was taking shallow dives and came up not far from us. Our last encounter, before we had to go back to the harbor was outstanding. It was coming very close to our boat, checking us out and then swimming alongside us, topping it with a beautiful fluke dive at the end. What a great tour ! :) 

- Kylie Veal 

Eider duck, greylag goose, purple sandpiper, black-legged kittiwake, black-headed gull, great black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, Great cormorant, European shag