Thursday, 10 July 2014

Tour at 20:30

Is Unfortunately cancelled due to unfavourable weather. Sorry for the inconvenience and contact us is you need more information either by stopping by the office, sending us an email (elding@elding.is) or calling us on +354 519 5000 for more information.

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The rain got heavier and did not stop during the whole tour. The wind and swell was similar to before. We had a small group of passengers which spent almost the whole tour outside at the middle deck but under some shelter of the roof. We did bird watching covering a big area. We observed a lot of different species (see below) but most of them were scattered all over the bay. We passed a Common Guillemot with a chick both sitting calmly on the water, without fleeing, maybe the same two we met on the previous tour. We found a grouping of Northern Gannets of adults and juveniles, one flock of Black-Backed Gulls and in front of Akranes a mixed gathering of Atlantic Puffins sitting on the water surface and Arctic Terns above them. On our way back we sailed around Engey, one of the Puffin colony islands in front of Reykjavik. We tried our best but it seemed that all cetaceans had been gone, so we offered everybody another chance to come back. Hope to see you soon and show you whales, dolphins or porpoises and not just telling about them.

- Carine Zimmermann

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: Even though the sighting conditions were a little better than in the morning due to a slight decrease of the wind we were not all that confident as we headed out into the rain. But this changed rapidly when we heard about a pod of Orcas/Killer Whales that had been spotted further out in the bay. Just as they came in to sight we also spotted a Minke Whale not too far away, but of course we kept looking out for the orcas. There was a pod of 5 animals with one calf and an adult male showing off its huge dorsal fin. We stayed with the group for many surfacings watching them as they moved through the waves, with the youngest member almost leaping out of the water at times. After what must have been 45 minutes or more we decided to give these animals some peace and quiet again and started heading back towards the harbour. We were hoping to maybe see something more on the way back, but even though we did not, everyone seemed very happy with this tour!! =))

- Linda

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Some wind, some swell and a bit of light rain were the background of this tour. Patience was the red thread which was very much needed today. Twice, some passengers have been able to have a glimpse of a once appearing Minke Whale but most didn't manage to see it. It was a matter of looking at the right spot at the right time. We covered a big area in our search and at that time we normally would have come back to the harbour we finally hit the jackpot. To see Orcas/Killer Whales in summer time is a chance of 0,84% and we did see, together with Elding, a pod of 5-6. They were dive travelling that means they moved and dove down for some minutes before they came up for several breaths to fill up their lungs again. We saw their blows and their distinctive black and white colouration. The white eye and saddle patch emerged on a black body while they came up in a tight group. Dominant dorsal fins broke the surface and one of them belonged to an adult male, another to what looked like a younger male. One was a calf with yellowish patches and another one had a sickle shaped fin with a striking notch towards the tip. Then there was at least a fifth and maybe even a sixth with no special recognizable markings. So everybody got a very good look at these rarely seen visitors to Faxaflói at that time of year and nobody minded to be out in the rain and having a delay of 45 minutes in coming back to the port. What a chance!

- Carine Zimmermann

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: The weather could have been better as we sailed out into the bay this morning... But even though there was some wind, at least we stayed dry for most of the trip. Similar to many tours over the previous days there were birds around, but no whales to be seen for quite a while. At last we did spot a blow and as we moved towards it we saw a Minke Whale surface once before it just disappeared. After waiting and scanning the surface for a while we decided it would be better to move on. And luckily Birkir, our engineer on board, saved the tour by discovering a pod of White-Beaked Dolphins! We stayed with them for quite a while, watching the 3-4 individuals surface slowly, changing direction, charging through the waves and even moving fairly close to the boat under water. But at some point it was unfortunately time to wave goodbye and head back to Reykjavík...

- Linda

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Clouds covered the sky above Faxaflói and no sunshine could come through, but it was not raining during our tour. We had some swell and wind but still we managed to have some encounters with cetaceans. Our first sighting was a Minke Whale which appeared several times so that almost everybody had a chance to have a look at it. Then we went on in the hope to see some White-Beaked Dolphins but unluckily they were seen just for one glimpse by the captain and one of the researchers as they were heading away and disappeared. Then we met another minke which came up twice before he was out of sight. Better some short encounters than none, so we were quite happy that we had them around.

- Carine Zimmermann

Birds seen on todays tour include: Northern Gannets, Northern Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Arctic Terns, Arctic Skuas, Great Skuas, Pomarine Skua, Common Guillemots, Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, Atlantic Puffins, Manx Shearwaters, European Storm Petrels.