Sunday, 10 October 2021

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.

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

 
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. Masks are not mandatory but are recommended in areas where keeping distance from others is not possible.

Report from Eldey : It was extremely nice this morning on the bay. A clear and sunny sky, little wind, and smooth sailing. The landscape was beautiful with this light and passengers enjoyed the majority of the tour outside. We saw many minke whales during the tour, probably at east 5 different poping here and there. If we saw them well, they were difficult to follow and when they where going for a deep dive it was hard to find them again. In a similar area than the minkes we saw several pods of white-beaked dolphins, around 30-50 individuals. A few came very close of us, probably curious about the ship. The ones coming close seemed to be often with a calf. From a few hundred meters we also saw a few dolphins doing big jumps falling in the water in big splashes. We went back facing the sun, relaxing with some music and admiring the landscape.

- Miquel Pons

Report  from RIB: This morning was one of the sunniest days Iceland has seen in a long time. The sunlight, together with the calm sea, made for ideal conditions for spotting whales and dolphins. We could see the blows and splashes created by white-beaked dolphins from far away, and we even saw some individuals jumping high out of the water. As we approached the group of approximately 20 white-beaked dolphins, some of them showed interest in our boat, participating in some “people-watching” by swimming less than a meter away from our side. For us, this was the perfect opportunity to take pictures and get to see the beauty of these dolphins from up close. We also caught a glimpse of a minke whale, but did not see it surface for a while so we decided to search a bit further out in the bay. Along the way, we encountered more dolphins and a myriad of sea birds, such as the northern gannet and the great northern diver. We reached a spot were many birds were feeding, and soon realised that they were not the only marine life that was enjoying the fish: there were also two minke whales! As we motored back to Reykjavík we enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful light that illuminated the Sun Voyager and other parts of the city. 

-Eline van Aalderink

Report from RIB: This afternoon we experienced how fast the weather can change in Iceland; whereas the morning was filled with sunshine and calm waters, the wind had picked up substantially a few hours later and there was some rain. Despite the typical Icelandic weather, we still managed to find two minke whales feeding in the middle of the bay, and saw them surfacing a few times. The whales and dolphins were tricky to spot this afternoon as they generally went on long dives and the weather conditions added an extra challenge. Still, we collaborated with all other whale watching boats to cover an area as big as possible to optimise our chances of seeing cetaceans. We saw some harbour porpoises as we were searching, but they quickly disappeared back underneath the surface. Unfortunately, just like the weather, wildlife is unpredictable so we never know exactly where the whales and dolphins are and we did not encounter another animal. Even though our passengers got to catch a few glimpses at minke whales and harbour porpoises, we want to give them the chance to experience the wonder of Faxaflói’s wildlife even better so we offered complementary tickets for another RIB adventure.

-         

Eline van Aalderink

Report from Eldey: The weather during this tour changed between dry and almost sunny to some minutes of light rain and a thick clowd cover, a typical icelandic adventure. After searching there for 15 minutes with no success we kept on going but then suddenly we spotted a minke whale not so far from us! we followed it for a little while, we enjoy its presence for a while but as it was traveling very fast around and that didn't make it easier for us we decided to look for other species. More minke whales showed up, and for a moment we were surrounded by at least 4 minke whales. In total we saw at least 6 individuals during the tour. Some of them were unfortunately a bit elusive, just coming up a few times to the surface to breath before they went for deeper dives. One minke whale was more present, near the boat, we could even admire its white patches on its pectoral fins. We then kept on and sailed further out until we spotted another whale in a long distance, another minke whale. For sure it was a beauty-minke day!

- Estel Sanchez Cami