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SATURDAY, 2 JUNE 2018

Tours status: RUNNING

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: Let me tell you the story of a sneaky whale... So the wind had picked up a little regarding previous tours and we sailed out against the swell. We started to look for cetaceans were we had seen them last. There were lots of seabirds out so we slowed down and kept scanning the area. And there it was, the blow of a humpback whale! We waited and waited but it just sneaked off. And suddenly it appeared in greater distance again even jumping out of the water 2 times, producing some real big splashes. So we went closer and waited again... And there it was, another blow and it made us wait again. Suddenly right in front of our boat it came up and slapped its tail really hard and disappeared again. It was a really challenging tour as this whale kept sneaking around us, but we did not give up and waited for it to reappear. Finally we got some nice looks at the whale, even though it went all quite quick, but those were some really unique behaviors we were given the opportunity to see!

- Sarah Kompatscher

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: Afternoon became a bit more windy and foggy but even in these vikings conditions we sailed happily towards Faxafloi. In the way, we found a lot of seabirds with special mention to northern gannets. They led us to our main goal, cetaceans. We discovered 2-3 minke whales feeding very actively, and a big blow surprised us but we couldn't´t identify the owner. In the way back as we sailed with the waves we enjoyed a nice ride.

-Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: It was one of this tour which proved us how wildlife is unpredictable. Weather was still cloudy, a little bit more windy with medium waves. We went out bit further then on the previous tour looking for signs of cetaceans. In area full of sea birds we took longer break to check if there is something. I saw few blows but no animals. When we decided to give up and move forward a minke whale surfaced in front of us. We saw it only once but later on we also have a surprising chance to see a tail of a humpback whale. As we were short with time we could wait long but still giving a chance on the way back. It was successful as we found very friendly minke whale which swam slowly allowing us to take proper look. On the way back we saw 3 more minke whales! 

- Ewa Malinowska

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: Wind and swell were pleasant to us when we headed out of the harbour almost side by side with a pod of white beaked dolphins. Soon they left us so we could concentrate on our mission to find some bigger cetaceans. And succeed we did! Even though the minke whale we found was elusive, we should not go home with disappointment written to our faces: The third largest animal of the world, a humpback whale was eager to be observed. Or, more likely, it was asleep and didn't care for our boat... Either way, it was there for us to see before it waved good bye with it's fluke before it was gone for a longer dive.

- Valentin Witek

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: Overcast sky, no sun - a good day  for whale watching! The sea-surface looking lighter and no sun glare are great conditions to spot the animals. So we sailed out facing long swells going towards one of our best sighting areas. Seeing lots of seabirds we kept scanning the water surface intensively as 2 harbour porpoises  popped out of nowhere close to our boat. Looking for them a lone minke whale appeared. We could stay with it for quite some time but as quick it appeared, it also disappeared again. Luckily we found another one who gave us the possibility to take some nice pictures. Eventually also this one left and we went on with our tour as we got a call from other boats that a humpback whale was seen. As we came to the area it showed us its fluke going for a dive. This animal went for really long dives and we were running out of time. Luckily it surfaced again and slapped its flipper to all of our delight. What a beautiful day out in the bay!

- Sarah Kompatscher

Bird species seen on today's tours include: Atlantic puffin, northern gannet, northern fulmar, black-legged kittiwake, arctic tern, arctic skua, manx shearwater, eider duck, common guillemot, great black-backed gull

We are sailing from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík today, there will be some movement out on the boat today and we do have sea sickness tablets at the ticket office free of charge. For more information you can contact us by email elding@elding.is or by phone +354 519 5000