Sunday, 17 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.

• 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. 

Report from Eldey: Knowing that some of our passengers are countering whales for the first time, and others are already "addicted" to see them, we ventured out to the sea in a morning whale watching excursion in the intriguing "land of fire and ice". And what a BEAUTIFUL day!! Good visibility and nearly flat seas and, best of all, three humpback whales and at least three minke whales!!! Our first sighting was a humpback whale, who propelled half of its body out of the water many times, so it was breaching in front of us! On one occasion we could see it with the mouth a little open and we could clearly see water flowing out of the sides of its mouth. After that it just started swimming erratically and with assynchronic dives. Following our code of conduct, and while having enjoyed the presence of this magnificent individual, as there were too many boats we decided to check out other areas but with no luck. On our way back to the harbor we kept our eyes open for more animals and suddenly our spotting skills and knowledge about the clock system were tested: minke whale at 2 o'clock, humpback whale at 7 o'clock, another minke whale at 11 o'clock. We didn't know where to look as we were surrounded by animals. Watch humpback whales and minke whales against a striking backdrop of snow-capped mountains was astonishing today. They were probably fishing or looking for food. We stayed for a while with all those magnificent whales surfacing sometimes pretty close to the boat, until we had to head back to Reykjavik. Everybody was amazed by these sea giants. Another great tour with Elding!

- Estel Sanchez Cami

Report from RIBs: This morning was an improvement on the wind and rains of yesterday's tour. We took the scenic route to Akranes as we went a bit further out into the bay to try and spot other animals before joining the other whale-watching boats at the hot spot area. As we went we came across a handful of Atlantic puffins. We're encountering more and more on our tours as we're getting further into the start of their breeding season here in Iceland - which is great to see! Once we got to Akranes, we spotted two humpback whales in a similar area but not interacting with each other. These individuals were tricky to follow but we managed to stay with them a while. Then our time was up and we had to turn around and head back to the harbour so we could warm up after a breezy morning tour.

- Emily Erskine and Mike Smith

Report from Eldey: The sea had calmed down since the morning and the visibility conditions were very good. We were therefore easily able to spot the large dark back of a humpback whale early on in the tour. The whale turned out to have company: there was another individual that surfaced right next to him/her. It was great to see these two whales swimming side by side, sometimes showing us their fluke almost synchronously. This allowed us to see how vastly different the patterns underneath the fluke can be: one was almost completely black while the other was predominantly white, showing us the beautiful diversity of nature and highlighting that each individual whale is unique. We enjoyed the two humpbacks for a while until we decided to explore different areas where we were able to see some jumping white-beaked dolphins. There were two groups swimming in the same area, approximately 10 individuals altogether. It was great to see the playful and curious dolphins as they came to inspect our boat from up close and brought lots of joyous energy after the more peaceful humpback whale encounter.

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from the Ribs: What an afternoon in Faxafloi. The weather remained remained fair, with a gentle breeze and small south westerly waves to contend with. The tour began with an encounter with a pair of humpback whales, slowly rising and falling their tremendous bulk from the water as they came up for a breath. We followed the pair for some time where we were treated to a spectacular range of behaviours, from pectoral fin slapping, tail slapping, rolling at the surface and even a breach, the first witnessed from the ribs this year. The whales continued their playful behaviour but sadly our time was coming to and end and we started to head home, but along the way, we intercepted the path of a very large pod of white-beaked dolphins. The dolphins inquisitive nature ensured that we had exceptional views as they came right alongside the vessel. A few individuals who swam in front of the bow then leapt from the water on numerous occasions. 

- Mike Smith

Northern fulmar, eider duck, long-tailed duck, razorbill, common guillemot, black guillemot, atlantic puffin, northern gannet, herring gull, icelandic gull.