Tour status: RUNNING
Tour at 19:00
Report from Hafsúlan: Clear skies and a perfect sunset were the background of the last tour of the day. During this journey it was possible to fallow and observe a minke whale close a big flock of active birds, that later on lead us to a few more of the same kind. These animals seemed to be quite busy foraging, revealing an elusive behavior while persistently going for long deeper dives, making it challenging to keep track. Finally we decided to leave them and searchi for something else out there. Shortly after we spotted a blow that seemed to be from a humpback whale! We tried hard to chase but it was going away from us and right over the glare line… Unfortunately we ran out of time and started heading back towards the harbor while listening to great live music onboard!
-Ines Cunha
Tour at 17:00
Report from Elding: The sunshine we experienced earlier today continued into this tour. The tour had a challenging start, with little in sight. More than an hour and half into our tour we finally saw a minke whale surface a few times around the boat. It quickly disappeared and we continued our search further out in the bay. After some time, we found a pod of 5-7 white-beaked dolphins, that surfaced a few times before leaving us. On our way back to the harbour though, we had a pleasant surprise as we found a second, much more interactive pod of dolphins, that swam around the boat, bow-riding and even jumping! A really great end to a pleasant tour in the sun!
-Anne Moullier
Tour at 14:00
Report from Hafsúlan: Still blessed with good weather conditions and calm seas, it certainly makes a difference in the whole experience on the ocean. We struggled for a good part of the day to find us a proper sighting. A few minke whales here and there, but far away. Finally we see something spectacular! A single distant splash. We came closer and discovered it was a young humpback whale smacking it's back part of the body against the water surface. It was repeating this behaviour for a good 20 minutes. What a sight. We left this whale alone and started heading home. On the way back we spotted 2 minke whales. So this was quite a finish for our amazing tour, considering that the encounter was also one of short distance. What a trip!
-Lucas Heinrich
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: And another promising tour when we started to sail out into the bay. After going to our best sighting area we suddenly saw a big blow and shortly after found a humpback whale. This individual was a little shy around us but suddenly came up lunge-feeding right next to our boat. We were all stunned about seeing the power of such an impressive animal! After some time we went on to find some more cetaceans and found a total of 4 minke whales. Some of the animals were rather elusive, but others gave us the possibility to take some nice pictures. Towards the end one of them even sneaked up to us and lifted its head out of the water! Closer to the harbour we even crossed the path of 2-3 harbour porpoises. What a beautiful afternoon out in the bay.
- Sarah Kompatscher
Tour at 10:00
Report from Hafsúlan: We were out on another perfect day at see! Did not take us to long to have our first sighting, when a pod of around 10 or 12 white-beaked dolphins was detected further out. It was possible to keep track and observe them quite close to our vessel, as some of them were very inquisitive. This pod was in a great mood and we could see it reflected in our passengers’ happy faces as well! As we were enjoying the dolphins we spotted a big white splash further ahead, which turned out to be a minke whale surface feeding! As we got closer, a few more minkes popped out around us as well. These lovely rorquals kept our attention for long minutes and all of the sudden we sighted another pod of dolphins jumping in the distance- and we were able to engage them for a while. Finally, on our way home, we had a last glimpse of another minke whale. Another great tour with Elding!
- Ines Cunha
Tour at 9:00
Report from Eldey: What beautiful weather we had this morning on Faxafloi! The sun was shining and the sea nearly flat. Nearly 45 minutes into our tour, we started seeing large flocks of feeding seabirds all around the boat, and a pod of at least 10 white-beaked dolphins were jumping near the first one! We stayed with the dolphins a few minutes, watching them resurface several times around the boat before we started to head towards another flock of birds where we saw a minke whale! The minke whale was feeding, resurfacing a few times, sometimes quite close to the boat. We stayed in the same area and were able to see at least four more minkes surfacing around the boat, one of them lunge feeding very close to us. As we left the minkes, we found another pod of the white-beaked dolphins, that stayed with us, bow-riding the boat for a few minutes. A great tour to start the day!
-Anne Moullier
Bird species seen on today's tours: manx shearwater, northern fulmar, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, black-legged kittiwake, common guillemot, Arctic skua, northern gannet, great skua, Arctic tern, Atlantic puffin,
We are running our tours today from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík, sea conditions are favorable and we are even hoping for some sun and warm temperatures. Please don't hesitate to contact our ticket office for further information, either via phone +354 5195000 or elding@elding.is
