Saturday, 30 April 2022

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

 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.

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00

Report from Eldey: Another beautiful day in Reykjavik, it was cold but not so windy when we sailed out of the harbour. Barely 20 minutes after, we found a pod of at least 3 harbour porpoises that briefly surfaced a few times about 200 meters away from the boat. A few minutes later another pod of about 2 individuals and another one of about 4. As the saying goes: "Always start with a porpoise". They were as usually elusive, and eventhough we did not see them again after a few surfacings, it was a very special sighting. We continued our search a little further out into the bay and eventually spotted 2 white-beaked dolphins. At the beginning we tried to approach them, but they didn't seem in the mood of being observed so we continued our path and found a massive humpback whale! The humpback gave our passengers a great first view as the blow rose and the fluke soon followed. The whale stole the show however, when it surfaced within 20 metres and performed a full series of breaths before going down for a deep dive. Also, in this special Go Birding Day our feathery friends were also great; northern gannets, kittiwakes, black-headed gulls, black-backed gulls, icelandic gulls, northern fulmars, eider ducks, razorbills, common guillemots and many puffins all around the bay. A great day had by all on board.

- Estel Sanchez Cami

Report from the Ribs: Conditions in the bay returned to their usual appearance today as the perfectly calm seas of recent days made way for small, half metre wind swell from the west which created a bumpy ride out. The tour began well nonetheless with a group of 4-6 harbour porpoises spotted early. This group moved very fast at the surface creating a fair bit of splash as they cut through the waves but were lost as we slowed to watch them briefly. We continued to journey west and soon spotted a humpback whale arching its back for a deep dive. Waiting patiently in the area we hoped that the whale would provide easy watching opportunities but the whales movements were very unpredictable, only remaining at the surface for one breath before retreating to feed at the bottom most likely. Next, we wanted to search towards the south where sightings have been good lately and we luckily found another humpback that displayed much more relaxed behaviours. The whale first showed the fluke for a dive and once at the surface again, stayed in sight many minutes, taking regular breaths followed by short one minute dives with no fluke lift.

- Mike Smith

Report from Elding: We went to the same area where we had our humpback whale sighting in the morning, and funnily enough we saw a humpback whale in exactly the same spot, just it was a different individual! The whale was very unpredictable, surfacing only a few times before going underwater and coming up in unexpected places a few minutes later. The whale sometimes came very close to our boat so we enjoyed spending time with it, but after many long dives we decided to explore different areas of the bay. Further out, we found a pod of around 10 white-beaked dolphins. This was a nursing group, with at least two calves and a juvenile who were very playful and at the end even jumping. On our way back to Reykjavik we came across a pod of approximately 8 harbour porpoises who were an unexpected spectacle! Normally, when we see harbour porpoises they are elusive and disappear after a few seconds. Today, the porpoises were very social: coming to the surface often and even coming within a few meters of the bow! After this rare encounter we headed back to Reykjavik and were happy to warm up after a relatively cold wind today.

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from the Ribs: Similar conditions this afternoon to the mornings tour as the waves originating from the west made for a fun ride to the bay. Harbour porpoises were once again our first sighting and behaved in the same way, showing themselves briefly before making a speedy exit in which they evaded our attention in the waves. We went to the areas where the whales from the morning were seen but they were no where to be found unfortunately, instead we stumbled upon a pod of 5-7 white-beaked dolphins that had a juvenile in their company. The dolphins allowed for us to watch from a distance as they swam ahead of our boat but did not show any interest in interacting. On one occasion, the young dolphin swam in our direction but was intercepted by other members of the group to stay on course. We decided to leave them as they did not seem in a friendly mood to be watched and tried to locate a whale, but failed in this endeavour. Complimentary tickets were awarded to our guests to try their luck again soon.

- Mike Smith

Eider duck, atlantic puffin, herring gull, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, black-legged kittiwake, northern fulmar, northern gannet, common guillemot, black guillemot