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All ferry departures to Viðey are currently suspended due to construction. Service will resume once completed!

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SUNDAY, 18 JUNE 2017

Tour at 20.30

Report form Hafsulan: It was a nice evening, the wind had gone down and there was no rain. We left the harbour, but it did take a bit of time before spotting our first cetaceans. We got to see a pretty minke whale. He was a bit far away and just showed up a view times but I do think everybody got a look at him. Than we got a messages for an other whale watch boat that they had seen a humpback whale. We went to the boat and we all to to see the beautiful humpback whale. He was resting and not going anywhere, so it was easy to spot him all the time. But unfortunately because he was not going for a dive we didn´t get to see the fluke. Also an other minke whale showed up what a nice encounter. On the way back we had some live music it was a really nice evening. 

- Alexandra Bouman

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: This evening, we first had to fight the rain and fog in the harbour before getting out in the bay, where the weather suddenly changed and we had good visibility and even some sun. And then we were invited to a minke whale dinner party: After a while of sailing we spotted our first minke whale underneath the first flock of birds. So, we stopped the boat and waited for the animal to resurface. But then we were surprised not only by one minke whale but by three surfacing in between the hundreds of seabirds. The minke whales were lunge feeding and sometimes leaping out of the water and always accompanied by many birds getting crazy over the fish which must have been chased to the surface by all the whales. It was great to see that the minkes did not mind to have us around when ploughing through the water again and again catching their dinner. When we left these animals behind to find some more wildlife, we did not make it far before we spotted more minke whales, also all feeding. There must have been so much fish today and we were glad we had been invited to this lively dinner party!

- Nicole Koestner

Tour at 14:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We started with a bit of rain and an overcast sky, but the wind had gone down, which we really enjoyed. It didn´t take us long to spot a lot of seabirds flying around the water surface. Our first encounter in this area was with a pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins!! They were feeding, so not really interested in coming to the boat. But nonetheless we got a good look at them and could stay for around 20 minutes. Only about 1 km away from them, we spotted a minke whale that was also feeding in the area. And within only a few minutes, we spotted 2 more minke whales as well as 2-3 harbour porpoises. Even moving a bit further into the area, we encountered another 2 minke whales that were easy to see and even photograph if you were fast enough. Overall a fun tour despite the rainy weather.

- Sabrina Voswinkel

Tour at 13:00 

Report from Eldey: It was a lovely flat calm day as we headed out into the bay. It didn't take us long at all to find the cetaceans today, just 30 minutes out of harbour we were watching the wonder and plentiful minke whale. First we watched just one minke surface very nicely just to our left hand side. This individual surfaced many times and wonderfully slow allowing us a clear view of this animal. As this animal went for a long dive we headed out further into the bay and discovered not one, not two but three minke whales just in front of us, all at varying distances. With the closest being only 40 meters in front! We were spoilt for choice watching these whales when even more luck came our way in the shape of a forth minke, which was lunge feeding right under a flock of birds! A pod of 6 harbour porpoises then decided to join the party leaping out of the water as they did so, allowing us a fantastic look at this normally shy species. But the tour didn't end there. Just as we started to head home a pod of 6 white-beaked dolphins popped up, these were a little shy but we managed to catch a quite glimpse of this beautiful species. And even more minkes popped up on the way back, what a wonderful tour!

- Tess Hudson

Tour at 10:00

Report from Hafsulan: It was a very nice morning. A bit of wind and just a little bit for rain, but overall it was very nice. When we left the harbour it took us a bit of time before we found our first cetaceans, then we saw a minke whale. This one was a bit elusive and hard to follow around. So we left him and when to look for some other cetaceans. We found two other minkes. These where much easier to follow and one even came up really close to the boat a view times! This way we got a good look at his beautiful big back and we got the hear the blow. What a nice encounter. On our way back some harbour porpoises swim around the boat, we got a good look at the little cute animals. It was a very nice tour.

- Alexandra Bouman

Tour at 9:00

Report from Eldey: When leaving for this morning tour everyone prepared himself for a very rainy and cold tour, putting on the warm overalls. But only a few minutes after we left the harbour, the sky opened up and the sun came out. Pleased with the weather and the calm sea, we all found a nice place on the outer deck and enjoyed the marine air. And we did not have to wait long to encounter our first marine wildlife. First of all, we saw a big flock of birds about 3km away. When we got closer, we could see that these birds were diving into the water again and again, obviously feeding on some fish close to the water surface. But they were not the only animals having a good breakfast on this Sunday morning. There were 3 minke whales surfacing underneath the birds many times, chasing the fish. After we slowly approached this bird flock, we were very close to these whales and were able to see these giants in only a few meters distance to the boat. A few times they were even leaping out of the water, showing their head and snout. Just a little bit later we could find another 3 of these minke whales in another area, also feeding on the schooling fish close to the surface. And this time, 2 harbour porpoises also showed up on the side of the boat. What an awesome Sunday morning with all these animals!

- Nicole Koestner

Bird species seen on todays tours: arctic skua, arctic tern, atlantic puffin, common guillemot, razorbill, manx shearwater, black-legged kittiwake, black-backed gull, northern fulmar, eider duck

 

Status: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. There is little to no wind but there could be some movement on the boat due to yesterdays wind. If you are sensitive to motion sickness though, we do provide seasickness tablets in our ticket office, free of charge!