Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: Today‘s tour proved there are really no rules with whale watching - we can always experience something completely unexpected, good or bad, no matter of our effort or weather conditions. During this tour we had strong wind and very choppy sea but had amazing encounters! First we saw a pod of 3-4 harbour porpoises. They were so close that we slowed down a bit and passengers were even able to see this little cetaceans popping out between big waves. Then we found a minke whale. Choppy sea and sun glare weren‘t helpful but we managed to look at this individual for some time. At the time we couldn‘t see any signs of minke any more, we spotted few little splashes- it was a pod of 4-6 harbour porpoises coming toward us. They were very playful, riding the waves very close to our boat so we were even able to see their tiny bodies in the waves! In the moment when it seemed we lost the track of them, we spotted a big splash in the distance so started heading to that direction. What a surprise! A breaching minke whale in front of us! What an amazing sight it was to see this rare behaviour! It breached few times in a row and after we were able to observe it traveling for long time. On our way back, we saw another minke whale surfacing 3 times in a row before we lost the sight of it.For the end, while approaching the harbour we were enjoying the sight of beautiful landscape and double rainbow above Reykjavik. Amazing tour!
-Tena Sarcevic
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: It was a lovely sunny day as we set off into the bay. There were a few swells as we headed out but nothing too bad. Not even 20 minutes out of harbour a minke whale was spotted coming up only 20 meters away from us!!! It surfaced multiple times and so close it was incredible! We were able to watch this animal for a long while as it surfaced regularly but it did change its direction quite a lot keeping us on our toes. While waiting for this minke whale to surface a small pod of 4-5 harbour porpoises surfaced only 30 meters away, they swam towards us and we could even see them swimming under the water it was awesome to see this usually shy and elusive animal come up so close! We continued to watch the minke for a while then continued out further into the bay to search for some other animals. However, due to the rough weather it was difficult to spot them so we did have to turn and head for home but fortunately another minke whale was spotted in the distance on the way back and we were able to observe this animal as it surfaced multiple times. We then headed for harbour, basking in the glow of the beautiful Icelandic sun.
- Tess Hudson
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: Another tour today that started off very difficult. We chose a more stable route this afternoon but the sea was still very rough. After about 1.5 hours our Captain Jón spotted a blow ahead of us which turned out to come from a minke whale that we saw surfacing a very few times in front of the boat. It was still about >500 m away from us and disappeared quickly. We kept searching and, as we slowly turned back to the harbour, we came across an amazing group of white-beaked dolphins! It was two groups of 3-4 individuals each that later joined together. The best was yet to come: At least 3 of these dolphins started to jump out of the water and didn´t stop! Pretty cool after very challenging tours in the morning! One of these "jumpers" was a very young one that jumped out of the water way more than 50 times!! I think most of us would have liked to stay longer but we were really running out of time and had to go back! A big thanks to our dolphins for "saving" the tour!
- Hanna Michel
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding. Challenging tour this morning. At least 3 minke whales were spotted by crew and few passengers. Unfortunately none that we could be happy about the encounter, so we offered our passengers complimentary ticket (free whale watching tour in Reykjavik or Akureyri for the next two years). The sea was quite choppy and the boat did rock. A few green faces but most enjoyed the experience, scenery and bird life.
- Megan Whittaker
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: The tour started quite well, even if the swell and wind were fairly strong the sun was shining on us as we entered the bay. After a while we bumped into a massive flock of Northern gannets. The huge birds were darting through the surface at full speed and in large numbers, a fantastic show. All this avian activity was a good proof that food was around and we hoped that the whales would soon join the feast. We did manage to spot the blow of a whale but the conditions and sightings were so poor that it was even hard to confirm the species of cetacean we were looking at. The animal, which was likely a minke whale, disappeared very fast and we had to resume our search. By the end of our tour we only spotted one other unidentified cetacean and the splashes left by a pod of around five harbour porpoises. Disappointed by these poor encounters we offered complimentary tickets to our passengers. These tickets are valid for two years for another free whale watching tour in Reykjavik or Akureyri and we hope that all our passengers are going to have the chance to make good use of it!
- Rémi Bigonneau
Birds seen on today´s tours include: atlantic puffin, common guillemot, eider ducks, black-backed seagulls, kittiwakes, northern fulmars, northern gannets, manx shearwaters.
Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. It is a bit cloudy but the sun is trying to get away from the clouds. There is some wind out on Faxa bay so there will be movement on the boat.
- Image
- Image
- Image
- Image
