Saturday, 2 July 2022

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 11:00, 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 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
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 11:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 16:00
• 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 : It was a chilly morning out at sea. After not that much time we spotted an animal swimming by our 3 o clock quite close, it was a humpback whale. We got to observe this animal for at least 10 minutes to 20 minutes, and it even came at some point really close to observe us, and do a hight pedoncle throw. We then continued and saw some blows with other boats, and spotted one by us. It was another humpback whale, we got to observe that second individual for some time, at times quite close to our boats. On the way back we saw a few minke whales, one that everyone managed to have a good look at. Before getting to the harbour we got to observe some arctic terns, atlantic puffins, and even a northern gannet along with several other bird species.

- Melanie Magnan

Report from Elding: The bay was completely full of animals today: we saw in total at least four humpback whales and three minke whales. The first humpback whale that we encountered was diving a bit unpredictably as it was busy feeding. When it did come up we were able to enjoy the beautiful white fluke and we were sometimes able to clearly see the bright white pectoral fins when the humpback whale came close to the boat. After some time we decided to check out other areas, as we had seen some splashes and blows in the distance. We encountered a humpback whale that came very close to us, and in between dives we were able to observe 3 minke whales and 2 other humpback whales in the distance. It was incredible to be surrounded by so many of these magical creatures and get to observe them in their natural environment.

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Eldey: We went back to the area where we got lucky this morning. The wind was picking up a bit but the sailing was still quite comfortable on Eldey, one of our vessels. We spotted a splash further out so we headed there and started seeing several blows. There was probably at least 5 humpback whales in the area! We got closer of one and could see it going for fluke dives frequently. There was a lot of birds and dark patches visible through the surface, probably a lot of shoals of fish. The whales were feasting in the area! The humpback turned toward us at some point and came very close, maybe checking on us a bit. Then it went for a deep dive again. We spotted a pair of humpbacks and wanted to see them from closer, but once we arrived, the whales disappeared. Turns out we were in an area with 3 or more minke whales also feeding. We stayed a bit and came back with the humpbacks. We observed those great cetaceans for a while before heading back to the harbour, crossing many Atlantic puffins.

- Miquel Pons

Report from Elding: our adventure today was amazing. We had a very active afternoon, seeing our first humpback whale 45 minutes after leaving the harbour. In fact, there were at least two humpbacks in the same area, although they weren't together. The fact that we had a lot of different species of seabirds flying around, combined with 2 different minke whales, indicated that this specific feeding area was very active. We tracked one of the humpbacks, while we could see the other one further away, both taking their time to feed. It went for a deeper dive and we decided to check what else we could encounter. A few minutes later, we saw a splash in the distance. Another humpback whale was tail slapping on the surface repeatedly! Even when taking our time to get closer to it, everybody was already really excited seeing that show. And it didn't stop when we got there! We could see its tail up in the air, close to the boat, making a big splash. With these amazing encounters and this lobtailing, we had a really happy way back home and satisfied passengers with the pictures taken.

- Milla Brandão

Report from Eldey: We had to head a little further out into the bay than usual but we finally managed to spot a great big splash in the distance from an animal breaching. However soon after heading in that direction 2 whales suddenly appeared next to us at our 3 o'clock, a humpback whale and a minke whale. After spending some time with this diving humpback whale, as the minke whale had disappeared behind us, we decided to leave and head in the direction of 2 blows from more whales in the distance. Again however on the way we managed to spot splashes from dolphins on our left hand side, prompting us to turn in that direction and get a little closer. As we approached we realised that this was a second humpback whale playing with a group of 10 white beaked dolphins plus 2 juveniles. The dolphins changed focus onto us as the humpback whale dove and moved away, bowriding our boat before leaping and spinning in our wake behind us. After this amazing show we decided to leave these animals alone and see if we could find anything else. Sadly, we discovered another blow in the direction of one of the whaling ships towing 2 hunted fin whales beside it. However luckily another sudden minke whale appearance distracted us from that sight and we this individual uncharacteristically swam right towards and under the bow of the boat. Running out of time we turned back to Reykjavik, yet before arriving back a final humpback leapt out of the water to bid us farewell. Not sure if we got the message it breached again for us, and again, about 5 times before it decided a simple wave with its long white pectoral fin would suffice. As it dove beneath the waves we returned to port, our cameras full of 4 humpback whales, 2 minke whales, 12 white beaked dolphins, and numerous blows and splashes on the horizon.

- Liam van Walsum

Northern fulmar, eider duck, Arctic skua, common guillemot, bridled guillemot, black guillemot, Atlantic puffin, Arctic tern, black-legged kittiwake, herring gull, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, greylag goose, glaucous gull.