Saturday, 23 August 2014

Tour at 17:00Report from Hafsúlan: we had been out for about twenty minutes when we noticed a black head looking at us from a distance. I almost would have liked to believe that it was a mermaid but it would more realistically have been a common seal. However it went down and we never got a good look at it. On we went and searched across almost the entire area that we usually search in but with the exception of a 2-5 harbour porpoises seen on two separate occasions, no cetaceans were found on this tour unfortunately. All passengers were offered complimentary tickets as a result so that they can come with us again within the next two years free of charge.- Baldur Thorvaldsson

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The weather had not changed so much since the morning tour when we went out this afternoon. The sea was very flat and bright which always makes it much easier for us to spot the animals. Still we had a difficult time spotting them at first. The very small harbor porpoises were spotted not so far from the island called Akurey but they were very elusive and hard to follow. We headed further out until we spotted 3-4 white-beaked dolphins in some distance from us, we tried to follow them but they were spending a long time under water so it was not easy. Close to the dolphins we saw a splash coming up in an area were flock of birds was feeding not so far from us. We of course went to see what animal had made that splash and when we came closer we saw it was a minke whale! The minke whale gave us a good look at itself, it came frequently up to the surface. Lucky for us the whale started heading towards Reykjavik which was nice because we were running out of time and had to go there as well. We kept on stopping on the way to see the whale surfacing in around 250 meters distance.

- Sigurlaug

Tour at 13:00Report from Hafsúlan: The sky was mostly covered but even tough we had sunshine and just little wind and swell. The spotting conditions were very good especially dark signs like a body or fins were contrasting very well under the light sky and the grayish shimmering sea. After a short while still close to the lighthouse Grótta we found a minke whale in company of a lot of fish according to our fish finder. It might have been the same individual we left in this area on the tour before and the smooth fin with no characteristic marking looked very similar but it was in a slightly different angle so that we couldn't be 100 % sure. After a good observation of this whale we continued our way out into Faxaflói where we found two pods of white-beaked dolphins relatively close to each others. We followed the closer one of 7 individuals which swam in a very tight formation and as we didn't catch up with the other pod we don't know exactly how many were they but definitely more than 3. The ones we kept track, we saw many times appearing regularly and showing us their beautiful colour pattern and their white beaks. As more boats joined us we left and had a smooth sail while we heard about the news of the erupting volcano under Vatnajökull. An event rich tour we could enjoy.

- Carine Zimmermann

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: The sky was cloudy but dry and the air was very still when we sailed on the bay this morning. The sea conditions were so good that we were easily able to see animals from great distance.  It took us a very long time to find any cetaceans, we sailed very far out on the bay without any sighting except for few harbour porpoises that were very elusive. On the way back we saw more harbour porpoises and while watching them a group of 4 white-beaked dolphins came towards us. It was a lovely surprise when we realized there was not only one group of dolphins in this area but 3! Each group had about 4-5 individuals. The dolphins played around us for some time but we had to head back to the harbour and at first the dolphins even followed us on the way, what a great ending to that tour!!

- Sigurlaug

Tour at 09:00Report from Hafsúlan: no birds could be seen for most of the first part of the tour, which made us feel slightly nervous about what the tour might be like as this could indicate lack of food in the bay. Whether that was the reason or not, it took us close to an hour to find our first minke whale. It popped up a short distance away from the boat side and went in the other direction. We stopped and turned the boat around. We saw it surfacing four or five times in front of Mount Akrafjall but then lost it. Then we went further out and got into an area that had a much richer bird life; including a number of northern gannets diving. Among them was a group of circa 10 white-beaked dolphins chasing after fish. We observed them for a while before heading back home. On the way we saw a dorsal fin in a distance but we lost it so we don't know if it was a dolphin or a minke whale. Towards the harbour we went then but before we did, our second and much better minke whale of the trip turned up, and where else than next to Akurey Island, less than 15 minutes from where we dock! It may have been the same animal as we saw at the exact same spot yesterday but unfortunately our photos do not make it possible to conclude on that matter. - Baldur Thorvaldsson

Birds seen on today's tours include: Puffins, fulmars, turnstones, lesser black-backed gulls, guillemots, kittiwakes, northern gannets, manx shearwaters, cormorant, arctic terns, arctic skuas and eider ducks