Tour at 17:00
Report from Hafsúlan: In the evening, the sea was still rough and once more we had to overcome some waves on our way towards the area where we had seen whales earlier in the day. As we arrived, we spotted once more a group of White-beaked Dolphins. We saw them surfacing a few times and got even to see a glimpse of a Minke Whale. However, just moments later, we lost track of both and were not able to find them again. So this tour was clearly dominated by the interesting sea bird sicghtings, which included the large Northern Gannets, Manx Shearwaters and Common Guillemots. In the end, the very short sighting of the dolphins was a bit unsatisfying, so we decided to give complementary tickets to our passengers to give them the chance to join us once more within the next 2 years with hopefully some more sightings next time.
- Hendrik Schultz
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: We thought the wind had calmed down but it was still very windy when we sailed out. It took us quite a while before we spotted a pod of White Beaked Dolphins, these animals were really nice, showed themselfes well and came quite close to the boat. It was a very nice pay off after all the searching Later on we spotted a blow and the area were we have been searching turned out to be a whale gathering. We saw at least 4-6 different Minke Whales feeding around us and 2 of them came very close to the boat, moving fast and coming high out of the water most likely chasing some fish. Very nice tour and once more: patience pays off!
-Lisa Hofmann
Tour at 13:00
Report from Hafsúlan: In the afternoon, the sea conditions were still quite rough and some passengers surely enjoyed it more than others who unfortunately got a bit sea-sick. We decided to head straight towards the area where we had seen minke whales and dolphins earlier. We were not disappointed, as we spotted the blow of a Minke Whale as soon as we arrived. We spotted at least 3 individuals, which were quite hard to follow in the rough seas, and they were frequently changing direction. However, we got very excited when one of them suddenly jumped far out of the water leaving a big splash, what an amazing happening, which is not observed with the minke whales very often. On the way back, we met a group of White-beaked Dolphins, which were rather busy and seemed to travel so we left them alone and returned once more with a smile in Reykjavik's harbour.
- Hendrik Schultz
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: It was a very windy morning in Reykjavík when we sailed out into the bay. It was a question of patience this morning but finally we spotted a Minke Whale which we got to see a few times and than we lost it in the stormy weather so we had to keep on searching. We got the news from our sister vessel Hafsúlan that they had spotted a Minke Whale on the way back so we decided to head in that direction in stead of going further out. Once more we had to wait a long time and were already on the way back to Reykjavík when suddenly 5 meters away from the boat the Minke popped up. We saw it a couple of times very close to the boat and than it took a deep dive and was gone. Surely a difficult day in rough seas with a happy ending.
-Lisa Hofmann
Tour at 09:00
Report from Hafsúlan: In the morning, the wind was blowing from the sea and as we got out we were facing quite a swell and rainy conditions. Also, it took us quite some patience and we had to go out far until we spotted a group of 5 to 10 White-beaked Dolphins. They were very playful and jumped several times, which was very nice to see. The did not seem to get tired and we enjoyed them thoroughly before heading further Lateron, we were already on the way back, we were happy to spot 1 to 3 Minke Whales that were probably feeding in the area. We were very glad with this "Happy End" and most of us returned with a smile in the face in Reykjavik's harbour.
- Hendrik Schultz
Birds seen on today's tours included: Manx Shearwaters, Northern Gannets, Common Guillemots, Razorbills, Lesser black-backed Gulls, Fulmars