Saturday, 25. June 2015

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: The wind had picked up a lot since the earlier tours and the swell was now getting up to 1 meter height. This made spotting a bit more challenging, still we were optimistic after the great sightings earlier this day. On the way out we passed by two big flocks of birds, we scanned the areas around the flocks without spotting any cetaceans. We were heading to the areas where we had our best sightings earlier this day and as soon as we entered them we spotted 4 white beaked dolphins. We slowed down to have a better look. We were able to stop our boat and the dolphins swam within 10 meters distance of our boat! While watching these dolphins we spotted splashes further north, these splashes were made by jumping dolphins! We got a bit closer to the jumping dolphins so we could actually make out their bodies instead of only seeing the splashes. When they stopped jumping they were still in a bit of a distance so it was difficult to find them, we went few circles in the area and finally found another pod 10-11 white beaked dolphins that were milling around. We got fantastic views of these calm dolphins. After great dolphin sightings we moved on in hope to find other species, sadly without any luck. On our way back we enjoyed live music with our troubadour, Bjarni.

-Sigurlaug Sigurðardóttir

Tour at 17:00

Report from Elding: It was a fairly warm afternoon with only a little swell on the sail out into Faxaflói bay. The fog had lifted a bit from previous tours allowing us to enjoy more of the beautiful landscape. After searching for some time a large pod of 9 white-beaked dolphins were spotted. They surfaced numerous times, came slowly up to the boat, and swam right under it. The water was so clear you could follow these animals right under the water for some time.  Just after moving on to look for some other animals the dolphins surfaced right in front of us and started playing around the boat, surfacing wonderfully close and so slowly, we could see each individual really clearly and therefore, able to identify some of the animals including Montgomery, Scratches and an individual with a rather large deformity to its spine.  After viewing these animals for some more time, again we headed further out in search of some other cetaceans. The search was difficult as the wind had picked up and caused a few more white caps to form on the water’s surface making it harder to spot animals. Nevertheless, we were not disappointed as yet another pod of white-beaked dolphin were spotted only a few hundred meters away from the light house Grótta. We were able to observe these animals surface a few times before having to head back to the harbour.

-Tess Hudson

Tour at 14:00

Report from Eldey: Again, we had a departure in a foggy landscape with some sprinkles of rain, but fortunately it was only for a short time. Few minutes after passing the Grotta lighthouse, we encountered our first cetacean: a minke whale ! Contrasting with the elusive and tricky minke whale we often dealt with recently, this one was relaxed, and seemed to not mind us. We slowed down the boat early, approaching respectfully this animal, and we were rewarded by amazing close looks ! Occasionally this whale took long deep dives, but was never surfacing far away from our boat. As it was easy to follow it, we could stay for a while with this specimen. When we deemed it was enough, we started moving again, having heard about other species. After a dozen of minutes of sailing, we met a pod of 6-10 white-beaked dolphins. And just like in our previous encounter, those dolphins were surfacing slowly and peacefully. Our Captain Gusti deserve many awards for approaching those cetaceans so softly, we did our best to not disrupt them and it paid ! We could approach this group of dolphin, and at some point they became curious of our boat and came to check on us. This was the best setting possible to take close pictures of those magnificent dolphins ! Again, having stayed a long time with them, we decided to move again and look for other cetaceans, as we circled, we got attracted to this pod again, they were jumping in the distance ! 4 individuals of this pod were jumping out of the water synchronically ! They had so much spare energy, they were leaping, porpoising, spinning above the water ! Incontestably, it was the best kind of encounter withe the white-beaked dolphin, and it was a superb tour.

- Guillaume Calcagni

Tour at 13:00

Report from Elding: The fog was scattered along the bay today. It was that kind of fog that can make you believe in mermaides and forever lost sailors. Also, the sea conditions were close to perfection for spotting cetaceans. Flat sea and high contrast. Results did not take long to come. After 30 minutes of sailing we saw our first minke whale! such a beautiful animal. It was surfacing at least 10 times between deep dives leaving the passengers in awe. We could not smell the animal this time because there was almost no wind (minkes are often called stinky minkies because of their bad breath). After 20 minutes with the animal we decided to go further into the bay and look for more species. We saw a small pod with at least 4 individuals of harbour porpoises in the distance. They happened to be very elusive so we could not get a good look at them. That happened 2 more times on the tour but at least some of the passengers could see them. Sometimes they are more introverted than other days and they do not wanna show themselves much. Later on, we got a call from another whale-watching boat saying they had found other cetaceans. We went as fast as we could their way and there they were: white-beaked dolphins! We saw at least 2 pods of 4 individuals each swimming around the boat! even some of them were leaping and twisting their bodies out of the water! an amazing encounter. After about 20 minutes watching the dolphins we decided to go back to the harbour as we were running out of time. On our way back we could see another minke whale with Reykjavik in the back. What a great picture for a great ending! I loved the tour. Full of laughters and whales!

- Jorge Pascual

Tour at 10:00

Report from Eldey: We sailed out with an overcast sky and fog. But after a while the fog lifted and the view of the surrounding got better. There was very little wind therefore the water was nice and calm. After sailing for about half an hour we encountered a group of Atlantic white beaked dolphins. It was a large group of about 10 individuals, they were great coming very close to the boat. After spending almost half an hour with the dolphins we heard there was a minke whale in the area and we decided to check it out. While travelling towards the minke whale the dolphins started putting up a show. Jumping all over the place even several individuals together, it was amazing. Shortly after we spotted the minke whale, we managed to see it surface a few times. Once very close to the boat and most of the passengers got a good look at the animal. It was a very good tour with a spectacular show from the dolphins.

-Anouk

Tour at 9:00

Report from Elding: The sail out was lovely and calm with only a little wind, after only a short sail of 30 minutes, our first species was spotted! The black back and dorsal fins of the white-beaked dolphins were seen coming up and down from the water s surface. These dolphins were wonderfully playful and came just meters from the boat and even swimming right under it! As they came so close I was able to identify some of the individuals in this pod including Montgomery and Scratches. After watching these amazing animals for some time, we decided to move further out into the bay to see if we could find some other animals. After searching only a short while a minke whale was spotted only a few hundred meters away. Once closer we were able to view this animal as it surfaced multiple times and only 20 meters from the boat at times. It was incredible to see this animal surface so close despite to slight rocking of the boat.  It was then time to turn around and begin the sail back to Reykjavik.

-Tess Hudson

Birds seen on today's tour include: atlantic puffin, kittiwake, northern fulmar, blue-fulmar, common guillemot, black guillemot, razorbill, lesser-black backed gull, greater black-backed gull, arctic skua, eider duck, arctic tern.

Status: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the old harbor in Reykjavík today. The sea is quite calm but it´s a bit foggy.