Sunday, 17 July 2011

Tour at 20:30

We started the tour by visiting the Puffin Island but we didn't find many birds there. Then we headed further out in search for whales. We spotted a blow in the distance and went right away into that area. When we came closer we realised there were 2 Minke Whales there, a calf and a mother, surfacing always at the same time. They always tried to avoid us probably because the mother does everything to protect her calf. In spite of that we managed to get close to those 2 encounters quite many times. Sometimes we lost them but we always found them again. On the way back to the harbour we enjoyed the beautiful sunset. Truly a magical tour!

 

Tour at 17:00

Out of nowhere the wind picked up which was not predicted on the forecast but it was fun anyway, bit of a roller coaster ride. We once again headed straight out to see the Minke Whales and once again they were everywhere enjoying the swells which they love to surf on. One even surfaced a couple of times just 10-15 meters from our boat, Incredible!!. The Gannets were also out enjoying the plentiful fish that also brought the whales into the bay today. Very fun tour!

 

Tour at 14:00

We started by sailing straight out into the bay and spotted a Minke Whale which surfaced around for a while. We spotted probably around 5 minkes in this area. They disappeared after a while so we headed to another area. On the way, we spotted a group of Harbor Porpoises just 5 meters in front of the boat. They just came up once so we kept on sailing further until we spotted a minke whale and another group of harbour porpoises. This group was much better than the first one, coming up many times around the boat. The minke whale was also super, coming just 4 meters from the boat which was a really nice ending of a good tour. On the way back to the harbour we took a stop at the Puffin Island where we saw quite many puffins sitting on the sea in front.

 

Tour at 13:00

The Minke Whales were everywhere you looked on this tour. No matter where you were standing or looking you got to see a MInke Whale. They were incredible especially the one that surfaced 10 meters from our boat. We even got a glimpse of a couple of Harbour Poproises but they didn't stay around very long. The seabirds were also amazing and we got to see a couple of species that we don't see very often like the Storm Petrel and the Sooty Shearwater. Fantastic Tour!!

 

Tour at 10:00

We started the tour by visiting the Puffin Island and saw few birds sitting on the ocean next to it. Then we sailed out to Faxaflói and spotted a blow in the distance. When we came closer, we saw this was a Minke Whale. Soon we were surrounded by probably 15 to 20 minke whales, some of which came close to the boat and some which were seen further in the distance. We stayed there for a long time observing a spectacular minke whale show before we headed back to the harbour. What a great tour!

 

Tour at 09:00

The weather has calmed down a lot from yester and the sun is shining and the skies are blue. Great whale watching weather. We started at Akurey and there were Puffins everywhere. Then we headed out into Faxaflói and after 30 minutes of sailing we came to an area of many seabirds and with them many Minke Whales. They were surfacing everywhere. Fantastic day! Birds seen on todays tours; Puffins, Gannets, Razorbills, Black Guillemots, Common Guillemots, Gulls, Kittiwakes, Arctic Skuas, Arctic Terns, Fulmars, Eider Ducks, Cormorants, Storm Petrels and Sooty and Manx Shearwaters.