Saturday, 23 October 2021

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00 and 14:00 Premium Whale tours and on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 09:00 and 13:00 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
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00

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: We had a beautiful morning: we all watched the sunrise together and met four inquisitive harbour porpoises soon after our departure. The sea was calm and they were not very afraid, so we stopped the boat and watched them emerge to the surface. Compared to the shy harbour porpoises we usually encounter, these individuals were very entertaining to watch. We then spotted a minke whale, but it only surfaced once and then it disappeared. Finally, we saw a the blow and the back of a humpback whale in the distance. Unfortunately, however, the whale was taking very long dives and as time was running out, we had to start heading back to Reykjavík. Even though we were lucky enough to see three different cetacean species, we still wanted to give our passengers the chance to get a better look at the whales, dolphins, and porpoises of Faxaflói, so we gave them complimentary tickets.

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Þrauma II and IV RIB : The wind was coming from the south this morning which made the temperature warmer than the last few days. It was a little bit sunny in Reykjavik but once in the bay it was overcast with some light rain. The swell was not to high and a bit long making the ride very pleasant. We first stopped when we saw a flock of birds with many common guillemots in there winter coat going for dives. Many seagulls were very active but we could not see any cetacean in this are so we kept going. A few minutes later we saw a minke whale surfacing a couple of times from pretty close. It was difficult to follow but we saw two other sequences of the minke surfacing further away. We went in an other area were a humpback whale was seen earlier and we did not have to wait for long before we saw the blow of the animal. The animal surfaced once at less than 50 meters from us and went for a fluke dive. We saw it three times more from a bit further away, one time, the mighty beast made a spectacular peduncle slap ! After a last sighting of the animal we went back to Reykjavik, with a brief stop to observe a second minke whale. A very nice morning !

- Miquel Pons (Þrauma IV)

Report from Eldey: Today we had another incredible whale-watching trip on our boat Eldey. We started the afternoon with rain and cold wind, but we ended the tour with beautiful sunlight over the bay and with a smile on our face. The reason: we had an amazing encounter with a humpback whale and white-beaked dolphins! We saw the humpback whale when it slapped its tail forcefully onto the water from a few hundred meters away. It slapped its tail two more times, but by the time we were closer to it, the humpback whale had returned to a state of resting. It surfaced slowly and regularly, making it easy for us to admire and photograph this beautiful whale. Just when we thought the tour could not get any better, we saw a pod of around 5 white-beaked dolphins jumping around. They swam around the humpback whale for a while, but when we had to return to Reykjavík the dolphins decided to follow our boat instead! We therefore got to experience the wonderfully sunlit mountains around Faxaflói with white-beaked dolphins jumping in the foreground – a truly unforgettable sight.

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Þrauma II and IV RIB: We were dreading a little heading out into the heavy rain that poured as passengers were getting themselves into the overalls and life jackets but as soon as everyone was onboard the rain stopped and we kept relatively dry most of the tour. The forecast was showing the wind was meant to pick up but that too stayed calm until the last 25mins of the tour which made the ride a little bumpier. We had a great tour with 2 very playful white-beaked dolphins that were playing under and around all the boats out there and we also enjoyed the company of a humpback whale that we stayed at a distance from at first while the larger whale watching boats were watching it but were able to get closer when they left to head home. The humpback was very relaxed, moving slowly and actually quite predictably allowing us to be quite close when it surfaced from the 8 minute dives it was doing and on one surface it was only a few meters away. On the way home Þrauma IV saw also a minke whale. It the end it proved to be a very enjoyable October day.

- Megan Whittaker (Þrauma II)