Sunday, 16 June 2013

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: Our second midnight whale watching tour and it wasn't bad at all, not only did we get a really nice encounter from at least two friendly Minke Whales, which surfaced many times and once just 10-20 meters from us, it was incredible to hear the sound of the blow (the exhaled breath as it surfaced) but also many birds including the puffins which were numerous especially at the island. On our way back to land we got the funny and talented vocals of Bjarni Baldvinsson. Another great night to out on the water.

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We headed out from Reykjavík into the fog and out onto the smooth sea. The fog cleared and we could see the beautiful Reykjanes peninsula behind us. It wasn't long before we came across a large pod of Harbour Porpoises. These porpoises were jumping quite a bit and seemed to be very outgoing despite their shy nature. We continued out and spotted our first Minke Whale. This whale appeared about 50 meters from our boat and came up several times letting itself be shown. We continued out and came across three minke whales who seemed to be feeding in the same area. These whales were very busy feeding, but we got a good view of them and it was quite fun trying to guess where they would appear next. After watching them for a little while we decided to continue on our way, but did not get very far when we came across a large flock of puffins, guillemots and gannets. We sailed towards them and sure enough a minke whale appeared from underneath them. Overall there were probably 5 to 8 minke whales that we were able to see and possibly 25 harbour porpoises. The trip ended with a stop at Akurey ( one of the puffin islands) where we got to see more puffins sitting int he water just outside their homes.

-Taylor Theodór

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: After this spectacular morning we were very curious to see what would happen on this tour. We decided to visit first the little Puffins on Lundey, the Puffin Island. We saw many Puffins sitting on the water surface and as we got closer they started flying around us. What a nice start, the Puffins are always amazing to watch. We had to sail quite a while before we saw the first Minke Whale and suddenly we had 5 individuals all around the boat. Some of them came very close so we heard again the blow and got a very good look at them. We turned off the engine to enjoy these majestic animal in total silence and it was a very unforgettable moment. We stayed with these Minke Whales a long time and on the way back to the harbour we spotted a pod of White Beaked Dolphins that were rather playfull circling our boat swimming under it. So again we got a splendid look at the white patches on their bodies and their faces. A nice farewell to head back to the harbour!

-Lisa Hofmann

Tour at 13:00:

Report from Hafsúlan: We headed out from Reykjavík and it was cloudy but the sea was very still. After about half an hour we saw some Harbour Porpoises. They were elusive so we continued out. We spotted our first Minke Whale soon after and headed towards it. We quickly realized that there were more than one Minke in the area, probably 3-4. We watched them surface all around us although they didn't come very close. We decided to sail around a big area to see some more whales. We saw probably around 5 more Minke Whales and when we started heading back one Minke Whale came up many times close to the boat, beautiful to listen to its exhale. Then we saw a group of Harbour Porpoises feeding at the surface with a big flock of birds hovering above, amazing to see these animals working together. An excellent tour with a very enthusiastic group of passengers.

-Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: The word of having Orca Whales in the bay spread around very quickly this morning so our captain decided we should head directly out into the bay where our sister vessel Hafsúlan spotted several pods of Orca Whales. After 30 minutes of excitement we finally arrived and managed to see these breathtaking Orcas around us. We saw at least 3 different pods, between 10 and 15 individuals and they also had some youngsters with them. We enjoyed their presence for some time until we spotted White Beaked Dolphins which were jumping out of the water. This is most likely a feeding behaviour when they scare and stun the fish together. We had an amazing time with the Dolphins as they came very close, swimming under our boat so we could all get an excellent look at their bodies. Still having some time we decided to search for a Minke Whale and after a short while we spotted some Minke Whales. We had a very nice times with 3 to 5 Minkes and also some Harbour Porpoises inbetween, maybe 5 induviduals. The Minke Whales surfaced so close to the boat, that everyone could hear their breathing it was stupendous. We headed back to Reykjavík, stopping on the Puffin Island Akurey, saying hello to the Puffins and returning to the city with a huge smile on our faces!!

-Lisa Hofmann

Tour at 9:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We left the harbour with some smooth sailing and a light breeze. We decided to head straight out to see if we could find some beautiful whales. It wasn't long until we saw our first Minke Whale. We saw this lovely creature surface a few times before it went down for a deep dive. Then all of a sudden to the right of the boat we say the large dorsal fin of a Orca Whale! We could not believe our eyes, there is only a 0.67 percent chance of seeing these whales here during the summer time and 5 of them appeared to the right of our boat. We slowly made our way towards them and quickly identified the male and four other smaller individuals. Off in the distance we could all see a large group of jumping White-Beaked Dolphins! We continued to watch as these incredible Orcas surfaced and swam past our boat. After some pleasant observation we continued on our way and saw two more Minke Whales. We then eventually caught up to the large group of about 30 white-beaked dolphins and enjoyed them as they played in the water. On our way back to shore we stopped by puffin island to see these "clowns of the sea". This tour was truly special and seemed to have all of the passengers on their toes the whole trip.

-Taylor Theodór

Birds seen on todays tours include: Fulmars, Nortern Gannets, Atlantic Puffins, Black Guillemots, common guillemots, kittiwakes, black-backed seagulls, arctic skua and arctic terns.