Sunday, 26 May 2024
Today we will be operating our Classic Whale Watching on our lovely vessel Elding at 9:00, 13:00 and 17:00 and our Premium Whale Watching on Þruma at 10:00, 11:00, 14:00 and 15:00
- CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 9:00, 13:00, 17:00
- PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00, 11:00, 14:00, 15:00
CLASSIC WHALE WATCHING 0900
Report from Eldey: We started off this morning very happy to be back on our lovely boat, Eldey. The weather matched our mood as it was very warm and as the tour went on it got sunnier and sunnier. Within the first hour we had two occassions where we saw lots of splashes in the distance but within seconds both times these stopped and we never got to see what was causing the splashes. After travelling a bit we entered an area with many seabirds including some feeding. Then a minke whale appeared very close at our front before surfacing again on the left. Everyone could see it nicely but unfortunately it then disappeared. So we carried on and saw lots and lots of beautiful white beaked dolphins. It seemed like there was 2 or 3 pods. In total there was about 20 individuals including a few calves. They were really active as they jumped and bowriding. We then left these dolphins really happy and headed back to the harbour in the sun.
- Rob Hyman
CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 1300
Report from Eldey: Our journey started with a special surprise as soon as we left the harbour! A minke whale! The whale was probably feeding since we could see it change direction rapidly and we spotted many birds in the area. We were able to see it very well resurfacing quite close to the boat. After a few moments we decided to continue sailing out into the bay to try our luck and search for a different cetacean species. while we were sailing we were able to spot many different birds species including the iconic Atlantic puffin resting in the water. We then heard some news that we had dolphins further out so we decided to join and we were able to sight a pod of around 8-10 white beaked dolphins! They were swimming gently and bow riding bouncing from boat to boat clearly having a good time surfing the waves! We said goodbye to the dolphins after a beautiful sighting and we decided to start our journey back to the harbour!
- Maria Ernesto
CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 1700
Report from Eldey: Just like the last tour within minutes of setting off we saw a minke whale. We got to see it come up lots of time all around us, by minke standards it was really easy to follow. Once it even came within metres of our bow giving all the passengers at the front a great look at this individual. After spending enough time to get a great look at this whale we headed out to see what else the bay had to offer us this evening. After searching for quite a while and seeing a few flocks of feeding Arctic terns we spotted a pod of white beaked dolphins. This was a really fun, active pod of about 6-7 individuals. They again came really close and even jumped a few times. They really excited all of us. We then started to head back and in the same place again we got to see the minke whale again! It was surfacing a lot again meaning we got a great end to the tour.
- Rob Hyman
Bird species seen during the tour:
Atlantic puffin, Northern fulmar, Northern gannet, razorbill, Arctic skua, black guillemot, common guillemot, eider duck, black legged kittiwake, great black backed gull, Arctic tern
Wildlife encountered today:
The Minke Whale is the most common whale around Iceland and actually the world thus it is one of the main species we encounter on our whale watching tours. It is one of few species that don’t mind coming to shallower waters like here in Faxaflói Bay to feed on the abundant food available to them.
The white-beaked dolphin is the most common dolphin found in the surrounding waters of Iceland and is seen not only in the summer but winter too usually in larger numbers, hundreds sometimes. When feeding they show energetic behaviour such as breaching out of the water and coming down with a big splash and bursts of fast swimming.