Sunday, 19 June 2016

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: It was raining slightly throughout the tour and a bit cold but wearing the overalls it was just cosy. We hadn't been sailing long when we happened upon a minke whale. It was travelling really fast but surfacing a lot so everyone got a good look at it and we could stay with it for a while. The minke was not slowing down though and when it became a bit difficult keeping up with it we let it go on it's way and headed further out. We got news from another whale watching boat that they had seen dolphins so we headed that way and, sure enough, there was a pod of three white-beaked dolphins. They were travelling slower than the minke whale so we could really enjoy them. When we had been watching them for some time we noticed that a fourth white-beaked dolphin was swimming about 50 meters away from the pack. It didn't join the pod while we were watching but it always stayed within 50-100 meters from the pod. We enjoyed the dolphins until it was time to head back to the harbour and had a nice sailing back.

-Bryndís Ösp

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: Sadly the weather had worsened since this afternoon but we were still on a high from the previous speciose tour. We first came across a minke whale that was behaving quite elusively, but this was no problem as there were at least 3 more in the area that we traveled between. We even smelt their fishy breath a few times from being so close and downwind! Clearly a very good area for the minke whales. After a half hour we heard that another whale watching boat had some animals, which turned out to be a pod of 4 white-beaked dolphin, including perhaps 2 juveniles. These were at first acting calmly, but then started to speed up which may have had something to do with the large number of lion´s mane jellyfish in the area. We also several harbour porpoise in the area tearing through the water that unusually did not seem shy of the boat so we could stay with them a relatively long while! On the rainy way back we passed by some more minke whales, a lovely end to the trip.

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The afternoon started with a clear sky and a warm sun which gave us energy to look for some life in Faxaflói after lunch time. We got news that a humpback whale was in the area so we went to check it out. In the way a passenger spotted 2 white beaked dolphins far in the distance wave riding. Once we got closer we could see the animal for a couple of times and its fluke once time. It was a bit elusive so we decided to keep going and looked for something else. We were sailing further into the bay when a minke whale came toward us, swam next to the boat and went for a deeper dive once at the back of the boat. The animal was traveling so we could not see it again. However after some minutes we came across two more minkes. One of them was very close resting in the area, swimming close to the surface and parallel to us, so we could get some good pictures of it. Last but not least, once we were heading back to the harbout some harbour porpoises came to us in front of the boat several times. It was a nice sail with interesting encounters.

- Alejandro García

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: Due to the improved weather since this morning sighting conditions were perfect so we were very hopeful. Our first encounter after 40 minutes was with 2 leaping harbour porpoises, although they didn´t stay long. Shortly after we spotted a blow on the horizon towards Akranes, and after 10 minutes of approaching a large humpback whale surfaced 200 m in front of us, and gave the passengers a great view of its dark back. Although its first dive lasted 10 minutes, this decreased to 5 minutes which meant that we could stay with the individual for 40 minutes and see it surface often. We had only left this whale for 10 minutes when we came across a pod of 4 white-beaked dolphin! Their calm behavior meant they were easy to follow even under the water, and we got some fantastic identification shots. After 15 minutes with these we spotted a minke whale 500 m away; so amazing to see all 4 of the frequently seen species! This minke was playing quite hard to get, always surfacing in unexpected places, but after 20 minutes and one last surface 200 m in front of the boat we sailed home. 

- Ophelie Humphrey

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: It had been raining this morning but luckily it was dry when we sailed out and it stayed dry during the tour. We hadn't been sailing for a long time when we spotted a small pod of three white-beaked dolphins. They were in a very playful mood and actually started bowel-riding another whale-watching boat that was in the area. They came really close to our boat as well and even swam alongside the boat so everyone on board got a really good look at them. You could even watch them swimming under the surface! When we had spent some time with them we decided to leave them to it and go further out. That's when we spotted a minke whale but it was arching it's back and going for a deeper dive when we spotted it so we waited patiently for it to resurface. It did eventually but came up only once and went straight back for a deeper dive and that's when we spotted another minke in the same direction, about 300 m away. We spent as much time as we could with these minke whales but they were very elusive and it was hard to keep track of them, they were taking very long dives and surfacing unpredictably. We therefore decided to let them be and took a scenic sail towards Hvalfjörður before heading back to the harbour. A tour with a couple of "sneaky minkes" and an amazing encounter with white-beaked dolphins!

-Bryndís Ösp

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: The sea was incredibly calm this morning considering how stormy it was yesterday! In these nice conditions we sailed out and first got to see a minke whale. Another whale watching boat had actually found it and informed us and we also got a good look at it. First, it seemed a bit elusive but then we it surfaced very relaxed just about 70 m away from us 5 times. This individual looked more like a juvenile or subadult because it was rather small and very cute. Shortly after leaving the minke we came across a pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins! They seemed to be resting as they were staying very close together and barely moving around - very easy to follow them and take pictures! We spent some time with them before moving on again; that´s when another minke whale popped up! However, suddenly we were also surrounded by white-beaked dolphins and no one paid attention to the minke anymore. It was a quite dispersed group of about 10 dolphins with some playful calves checking us out and another individual jumping out of the water about 10 times! Pretty cool, they were giving us a great time! In the end we tried to catch another glimpse of the minke whale but it was quite elusive and since we were running out of time we had to had back to the harbour. The white-beaked dolphins were definitely the stars of the tout!

- Hanna Michel

Bird species seen on today's tours include: northern fulmar, common guillemot, black-legged kittiwakes, lesser black-backed gulls, Arctic tern, Arctic skua, Arctic puffin, and eider ducks. 

Status: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. There are some winds from the east, and some swells out at sea after yesterdays bad weather. We hope you are able to join us in search of these amazing giants in their natural environment.