Sunday, 9 June 2013

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It was raining when we started today's last whalewatching tour, but the group of 10 brave sailors that joined us was well equipped with our warm overalls and full of positive attitude - "There is no bad weather, just wrong clothing!". Anyways, the sea was super calm and the atmosphere and ocean were coloured in a milky haze providing optimal whale watching conditions. Also, a taste of foreboding was lying in the air suggesting this tour would be somewhat special...And there it was: after about 40 minutes of sailing  a Minke Whale surfaced close by, but it behaved quite unusual It did not surface shortly to breathe and subsequently dive down as frequently observed - this Minke actually surfaced and rested motionless for about 10 seconds just lingering at the surface before it breathed and for a dive. It may have been a form of rest, but it was definately unusual to see. When we continued our journey, still thinking about the "weird minke", another couple of Minke Whales appeared in front of us travelling very close by in a pair. Then, as if the first Minke wasn't weird enough, one of the two Minkes came close to our boat and surfaced less then five meters next to us. Our excitment even rose when we could see the white belly of the Minke shining through the water. It seemed like the animal was diving around our boat looking up to us and thereby exposing its white belly. It surrounded our boat at least three times surfacing a couple of times in between. This Minke was super interactive and obviously very interested in us - maybe an attempt of communication? Of course it is up to our interpretation, but I think it said something like "Meet us don't eat us!". What a great evening tour so exciting and surprising and with the amazing company of ten brave and very nice sailors- is there a better job in the world?

- Hendrik Schultz

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: As we headed out from Reykjavík it was raining a lot but still no wind and calm sea. We headed to where we had seen the Minke Whales earlier that day. On our way we saw a Minke Whale right in front of the boat. We stayed still and watched it surface a few times before going on a deep dive. We decided to stay and wait for it to come up again. After about 4 minutes it surfaced right in front of us, only about 10m away. We saw it surface a few times closer to us and then heading down again. Then we found a pod of 5 White-beaked Dolphins. We followed them for a while but they were feeding and changing directions often so we decided to go further out. We saw some Harbour Porpoises here and there and two more Minke Whales before time ran out and we had to head back to the harbour. On our way back we stopped in Akurey where there were a lot of puffins sitting on the sea as well as the island. Beautiful tour in spite of the rain.

-Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: After such a nice morning tour, everyone was looking super forward to this afternoon's cruise. The sea was still calm and even though it was raining, visibility was very good and the milky color of the sea provided an optimal background for spotting cetaceans. At first, we went back to the area where we had seen White-beaked Dolphins in the morning. Instead we found several Minke Whales this time. There were so many Minkes around we almost did not trust our eyes, in total between 10 and 20 individuals, which were probably feeding all in the same area. The Minke highlight of this tour was one individual surfacing right in fron of our boat and we could see the whole animal's body through clear water - amazing to even see the white patches on its pectoral fins! Another species feeding close by was the Harbour Porpoise of which we saw easily 15 individuals, some of them quite close to our vessel. The cherry on the cake however, was a group of four White-beaked Dolphins on our way back to Reykjavik - a perfect afternoon tour!

- Hendrik Schultz

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: We headed out from Reykjavík and although it was a bit cloudy there was almost no wind and the sea very calm. We began our tour in Akurey where we saw a lot of puffins, kittiwakes, Eider Ducks and other species. After admiring the island we headed out to look for some whales. We hadn't sailed for long when we saw our first Minke Whale. We stopped the boat and saw another one surface. We stayed still for some time with many Minke Whales surfacing around us. We also saw some Harbour Porpoises in the area. After staying there for a little while we decided to head further out to try and find something more. We saw a big flock of birds and headed towards them and there we saw even more Minke Whales surface which was very beautiful even though they didn't come that close to the boat. When we were on our way back to Reykjavík we spotted a group of 5 White-beaked Dolphins. They surfaced close to us and even jumped out of the water right in front of us. An amazing tour to say the least.

-Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: When we went out this morning, the sea was very calm and even though it was cloudy, the sun blinked through here and there making it a wonderful scenery in Faxa bay. In the beginning of the tour, we stopped at Akurey, one of the islands infront of Reykjavik where the Atlantic Puffins breed on to have a closer look at the "penguins of the north". When we headed out further into the bay, we spotted a group of about five White-beaked Doplphins, which even included an infant. All of them were behaving quite actively even jumping here and there slightly presenting us an amazing show. When we traveled further, hoping to find another species of cetacean, we shortly spotted a couple of shy Harbour Porpoises and even though they showed up just once, we were so amazed to spot a Minke Whale close by that we thoroughly enjoyed. While watching the Minke surfacing, we spotted more and more Minke Whales in the closer surroundings, must have been at least 10 different individuals. Also, many sea birds particularly Arctic Terns were feeding around us indicating that there was plenty of food around in Faxa bay this morning.

- Hendrik Schultz

Birds seen on todays tour include: Great Northern Divers, Kittiwakes, Northern Gannets, Atlantic Puffins, Black-backed Gulls, Greyleg Geese, Oyster Catchers, Common Guillemots, Black Guillemots, Arctic Terns, Manx Shearwater, Fulmars and Cormorants.