Tour at 1700
Report from Hafsúlan: This tour we decided to head straight out into Faxaflói Bay and stop at the Puffin colony on our way back to Reykjavík. The weather was still great even the wind picked up a little bit but it was not that cold than in the morning. Once we were in the bay we spotted first a pod of 4 plus Harbor Porpoises. When we headed on we could encounter our first Minke Whale of the tour. As the sea was very calm we could see them from far away and there were at least 5/7 of them around. All of them were busy feeding or searching for prey, so they were challenging to spot but everyone got a good look at them during the tour. In the end we had a great surprise as we were told about a pod of White Beaked Dolphins. We headed straight to the area and stayed with them for a while before we headed back to Reykjavík. We saw at least 6 of them slowly surfacing at the same time! We ended this long tour with a stop at the puffins on Akurey, that were a lot more than in the afternoon. Three species in one tour, including very great Harbor Porpoises coming close to the boat!
Tour at 1400
Report from Elding: the crew was still in seventh heaven after the morning tour and hoping for an equally good afternoon tour. We saw a fair number of Minke Whales (5-10) on this tour but they were elusive and we would often loose them after seeing them just once. As in the morning, Harbour Porpoises appeared every now and then, jumping and travelling at express speed. Deep inside we were hoping to encounter the same pod of cheerful Dolphins as we had seen in the morning and perhaps it was the same pod that we saw, for it looked about the same size. They did not do the same jumps but we had them very close to the boat, including three very well visible to the left of the front of the boat.
Tour at 1300
Report from Hafsúlan: Heading into a calm bay again, we stopped on the way out at Akurey. There were three experts on the island taking care of the colony. Once we headed further out we spotted a pod of 4 plus Harbor Porpoises and suddenly a Minke Whale surfaced in between of them. All in all we found between 6 to 10 individuals in the bay. Some of them were busy feeding and surfacing only shortly, others been easier to look at especially those two in the end that surfaced on both sides of the boat very close to us. On the way back we found another pod of 5 to 7 Harbor Porpoises fast travelling and surfacing many times. Great afternoon in brilliant sunshine, a calm bay with many Minke Whales and Harbor Porpoises.
Tour at 1000
Report from Elding: we had an exceptionally satisfying tour thanks to great sightings of Minke Whales and White-beaked Dolphins as well as occasional visits from Harbour Porpoises. There was a time when Minke Whales were surfacing all around us and a careful estimate is that we saw at least 10, including 5-6 at one certain time all around us. Once we had two close on each side of the boat! But the very best part of the tour was when Captain Vignir spotted some splashes a good distance away and picked up his binoculars. It proved to be a small pod of White-beaked Dolphins (5-12) feeding, behaviour easily known by rapid pace and ever-changing direction, and headed there instantly. It was some 3-4 km away so it took us some time to reach them but the reward was that we had a perfect end to the trip, including one Dolphin jumping high up in the air on numerous occasions, the most probable reason for which would be attempt to stun or scare prey towards his mates. Just awesome to see!
Tour at 0900
Report from Hafsúlan: After we left the harbor we stopped at Akurey with great Puffins in the morning. Than we headed further out into a calm bay in a bit cold wind. Out there we saw at first some Harbor Porpoises but as we spotted a Minke Whale in a distance we headed straight on to get closer in this area. During the morning we encountered between 4 to 8 Minke Whales, two of the surfaced at the same time in front of us. Great to meet those giants in their natural environment, especially on a beautiful morning than that. Perfect start into a day for all on board!!