Saturday, 28 May 2016

Tour at 1700

Report from Eldey: The 17.00 tour was very relaxed from the very beginning maybe due to the amount of passengers we had on board (36). The weather was not the best this time though. It was very windy and bumpy. There were a few green faces on board but most took the complimntary sea sickness tablet and stayed outside for teh best prevention from the motion of the ocean. After about an hour we heard from another whale watching vessel that they had spotted a minke whale.  Unfortunately, it was elusive and we could not see it to show our passengers. After a few minutes, we spotted a blow in the far distance (about a kilometre away from the boat). We got there as soon as we could. It was a humpback whale. First we saw the back of the animal. After some minutes it started to perform some stunning lunging behaviours on the surface. It did some rolling showing its pectoral fins and head too. It was amazing to witness! We stayed there until nearly the end of the tour before heading back home. The amount of different bird species and the numbers were a good indicator this time too. Also the fish finder showed us a big concentration of fish close to the surface. I am not sure if it was the same humpback we saw on the previous tours but it might be. In between the humpback sighting we spotted a minke whale but just briefly. We saw its back twice. It seemed the animal was just travelling. After that we said goodbye to the amazing humpback and head back to the harbour. The way back was a bit bumpy too but the passengers had already got the hang off the swing, so it was all fine. In my opinion, as a new training guide, this tour was a very successful one and so far the best I have done with Elding!

- Jorge Pascual 

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: The sea conditions had improved a bit in the afternoon today so that it was less bumpy even though the boat was rocking every now and then of course. The first species we encountered after about an hour was a minke whale. It surfaced a few times but then disappeared in between the waves so we decided to move on and look for something else. Just a few minutes later we came across a pod of 3 white-beaked dolphins surfing the waves. They first kept a distance of about 150 m but suddenly we found them playing around the bow and the sides of the boat checking us out. We could spent a while with these dolphins before they headed further away and we left them in peace. At the same time our Captain spotted a big blow a couple of hundred meters away from us so we went over there and found a humpback whale. It may have been the same individual we saw this morning as it was in the same area and still feeding at the surface; we saw it lunge-feeding and rolling on its side showing parts of its fluke and pectoral fins - amazing to see! We spent a good time with this individual before we were running out of time and started heading back to the harbour. However, just when we were about to leave the area another minke whale popped up. So, it was a quite windy but also very successful tour!

- Hanna Michel

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: We set sail on a fairly windy and overcast day. However, this didn´t dampen the mood, after sailing out into the bay we hit a few swells but caught our fist glimpse of a minke whale. It was very fast and a bit elusive, so only a few crew members were able to spot it. Due to this we moved on further into the bay and spotted another minke whale but was also fairly difficult to spot due to the rough sea conditions.  A humpback whale was also spotted but it was busy feeding and due to the white caps it was also a bit difficult to spot. Gulfoss (another whale watching boat) then informed us that they had a rather active humpback so we headed over to check it out. After a bit of searching we were all rewarded with the most incredible lunge feeding encounter i have ever witnessed! The humpback was coming up again and again rolling and lunge feeding so we were able to see its ventral pleats and the inside of its mouth even. It was truly amazing after about 20 bouts of lunges it came up for a few short breaths just meters from the boat. At this point the engines had been turned off, so we were able to enjoy being really close to the animal in the peace and quiet. The humpback then 
continued to surface really close and continued feasting on the plentiful fish. After watching this incredible animal for sometime it was time to head home. This tour was fantastic! we were so incredibly lucky to observe this fascinating feeding behaviour and so up close!

- Tess Hudson

Bird species seen on today's tours include: northern gannet, northern fulmar, great & lesser black-backed gull, kittiwake, Arctic tern, common guillemot, Atlantic Puffin, Arctic Skua and eider ducks.