Sunday, 8 August 2021

Sunday 8 August 2021

✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 09:00

Report from Eldey: Amazing conditions once again, with a perfectly calm sea and ideal spotting conditions. Many cetaceans were in the bay today and it did not take long for our first encounter with one of three humpback whales. The first whale we saw was easily visible from a long distance due to the tall blow which hung in the still air. We alerted the passengers early so they could be in the best position for when we arrived. The whale was moving in a zig-zag fashion, appearing to be quite relaxed. We observed a few surfaces, with the fluke been shown but left as more boats approached. We joined our colleagues a little further out to witness a curious individual circling their boat and spyhopping at their bow. The whale headed towards us, coming within a few metres before diving and resurfacing on the opposite side. While we watched this humpback another showed itself in the area relatively close but we chose to stay with the whale we were currently nearer to.  

- Mike Smith

✔ PREMIUM PUFFIN TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 09:30

✔ PREMIUM WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 10:00

Report from Þruma RIB: Today conditions were perfect. The sea was so calm and pretty, no wind and a bit of sun. It was clouded after a while but still warm. We started with puffins and went out in the bay trying to find some cetaceans. We saw that a lot of whale watching boats were aggregating and we decide to find our own whale. And we did ! A humpback whale was doing a fluke dive further away. We approached and waited. It came not far away from our boat and we could stay with it for a while. The animal was resting very calmly. We decide to let it rest alone and went for something else. We find a second humpback whale that was also quietly swimming. We could observe a few fluke dives and stayed with this whale until we had to head back to Reykjavik.

- Miquel Pons

✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE 13:00

Report from Eldey: Light clouds covered the sky and the sun peeked out at us as we left for our 1pm tour. There was next to no wind so the spotting conditions were perfect – a mirror-like ocean surface with almost no glare. In line with that, we found 3 minke whales very soon, and watched one of it pretty closely for about 10 minutes as it was feeding around the boat. We then left them behind to try to find some other species. Almost instantly, we saw 2 humpback whales lying just beneath the ocean surface about a kilometre away. We approached them and they had not really moved a muscle since – sleeping and resting. It was an amazing sight to see them resting side by side with only about 3 meters in between them. They then started to move around a little bit but always stayed closed to the surface so they never went out of view. They interchangeably spy-hopped up to check us out, and slapped their pectoral fins on the surface. We stayed with them for a very long while until we decided to give them some space, and moved away. Then, we found another humpback, one we call Davy Jones. Davy Jones always makes for an exciting encounter, and of course it greeted us with its pectoral fins high up in the air, slapping them on the water. It also gave us a beautiful fluke dive before we had to head back to Reykjavík. On our way back, we spotted another minke whale in the distance, in eye-line with the active volcano on Reykjanes peninsula, making for a great view. A wonderful tour!

- Fróði Guðmundur Jónsson

✔ SEA ANGLING 13:00

✔ PREMIUM WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 14:00
 

Report from Þruma RIB: The sea was so beautiful with this silver colour, very flat with very little wind. After a start with puffins everywhere near Akurey, we headed out trying to find something bigger. And we did find a pod of 4 harbour porpoises. We tried to stop to see them from closer but there were quite elusive. We did not insist and went to find a bigger whale. Then we crossed the path of the most playful and adorable minke whale. The animal was quite small and extremely curious about our boat, coming to see us many times, swimming around us and under the boat. We thought the tour would not get better than that but we were wrong. We searched further out and found a humpback whale that was clearly sleeping, staying at the surface without moving. We observed it a while and decided to try to find something more active. We found another humpback whale that looked asleep in another area closer of Reykjavik. But as soon as we approached this humpback started breaching. It breached 4-5 times under our amazed eyes. And the show was not over. The big whale came toward us just sliding at the surface clearly looking at us, coming extremely close, stopping, rolling on the side and slapping the water with its pectoral fin ! It was time to go so we took the path of the way back During the traject we saw the first minke that apparently did not want to let us finish the tour, and another minke whale closer to Reykjavik. Incredible tour.

- Miquel Pons

✔ CLASSIC MIDNIGHT WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 19:00

Bird Species ID´d today: Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Common Guillemot, Arctic tern, Arctic skua, Northern Fulmar, Kittiwake, Eider Duck, great-black backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull.

COVID-19: Keep in mind that passengers and crew are asked to ensure their own hygiene and safety at all times. Washing hands thoroughly with soap and using a hand sanitiser is advised. Masks are not mandatory but are recommended in areas where keeping distance of 1 metre is not possible.