Thursday, 12 August 2021

Thursday 12 August 2021

✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 09:00

Report from Eldey : Amazing conditions for whale watching today with almost no wind, a blue sky, a lot of sun and a very calm sea. We were a bit worried about the visibility because there was a lot of fog earlier, but when we arrived on the bay we had a good visibility. Near the islands around Reykjavik we saw a pod of harbour porpoise. We went further out and found an area with a lot a birds and a lot of whales. Wherever I was looking i was seeing a whale. In total I counted 4 humpbacks, 3-4 minke whales and 2 pods of white beaked dolphins. We first stayed with a humpback for a while, the animal was showing nice fluke dives under the "aww's" of the passengers. We followed it until we saw another humpback breaching not that faraway ! We went there and the animal was going from a flock of birds to another, doing big lunge-feedings, taking big gulps of food ! We saw from quite close two of those lunge feeding before we had to head back to the harbour.

- Miquel Pons

✔ CLASSIC PUFFIN TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 10:00

✔ PREMIUM WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE x2 |  10:00

Report from Þruma RIB II: Great conditions once again in the morning, calm sea and blue skies. We decided to head southerly first, and encountered a single harbour porpoise. Turning off the engine and remaining motionless allowed for a great close view of the normally difficult or more accurately, overlooked porpoise. Once the small cetacean moved on we continued deeper into the bay, next meeting a pod of three white-beaked dolphins. Two dolphins were extremely close for the duration of our time, maybe showing mating behaviour, whilst the third came very close. After receiving word from our colleagues, we headed to their location and watched a humpback whale interacting with a second pod of dolphins. The dolphins were leaping and performing acrobatics around the whale especially as it dove. Our colleagues who radioed us then left, inadvertently luring the dolphins away as the playful pod wanted to surf in their wake. We were then able to watch the humpback alone as it surfaced and lifted its fluke when diving.

- Mike Smith

Report from Þruma RIB IV: The ocean was silk smooth as there was no wind and the sun was peeking through the clouds. We looked at the puffins in Akurey at the beginning, and it was obvious that some of them have started to leave the breeding grounds already. Once we went further out to the bay, we spotted around 4-5 harbour porpoises, but they were far away and our passengers did not see them. We then found a pod of 5-7 white-beaked dolphins, but they were busy feeding and did not show us any attention. We moved a bit around the neighbouring area and came upon another pod of white-beaked dolphins, it was hard to put a number on them because they were scattered all around, 2-3 together in maybe 4 or 5 different places. These dolphins were a little more friendly than the previous pod, and came for a moment closer to the boat to check us out. Our captain also spotted at least 3 more harbour porpoises in the distance. We moved from the dolphins as we had heard about a humpback whale nearby. Instead of the humpback, we found even more white-beaked dolphins! They were around 5-7 this time, and these were super playful, jumping up in the air very acrobatically and surfacing around the boat, bowriding in the waves. As we were watching the dolphins, we heard the noise of the humpback whale just behind us. We then went close to that individual and stayed with it for over half an hour. We identified it as Captain Hook, which has a very characteristic hook-like dorsal fin. Captain Hook did some beautiful fluke dives and some fin slapping on the surface. It surfaced very frequently with the playful pod of dolphins swimming all around it. We were then running out of time so we had to head back. We saw a big flock of birds in our way mid-way back, and decided to hang around for a second to try to spot a minke whale. And just a minute later, a minke whale surfaced just in front of the boat. It came up two more times and then went for a deep dive, and we had to head back to the harbour.

- Fróði Guðmundur Jónsson

✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 13:00

Report from Eldey : The wind picked up a bit but it was still pleasant to sail on Eldey. We had a bit more difficulties to spot the whales and we had to look for a while. We first encountered 2 minke whales that we could observe a bit but they were challenging to follow. Then we decide to go further away and circle toward south. There we found a humpback whale that was not very active in the beginning. Then it changed its slow course and start swimming at travelling speed coming quite close of the boat ! We followed it for a while hoping it would show the fluke but it did not. We came back to Reykjavik under the warm sun. 

- Miquel Pons

✔ PREMIUM PUFFIN TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 13:00

✔ SEA ANGLING TOUR ON SCHEDULE 13:00

✔ PREMIUM WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 14:00

Report from Þruma: The weather took a turn for the worst  as the wind speed increased, conjuring a small wave. We battled through the swell head on and saw the blow of a humpback whale relatively close to the harbour as it was only a few miles offshore. The whale was moving reasonably quickly at first, as if it was travelling, before slowing down and allowing for a close encounter. We saw the fluke from behind many times as the individual performed many dives.  We left the whale and headed to a large group of birds which helped  highlight the position of three white-beaked dolphins and a minke whale. We first watched the dolphins which again exhibited unusual behaviour from a pair who rolled around at the surface, exposes their bellies which was maybe matine behaviour. The third dolphin came close to the boat and wowed the guests with the close view in a similar interactions to the morning. The minke only showed itself a couple of times before disappearing in the swell.

- Mike Smith

✔ PREMIUM WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 16:00

Report from Þruma: The weather remained challenging due to the increased swell height, but we headed straight to the location where we had encountered the wildlife on the last tour. After finding the large flocks of birds again, we waited and were surprised to see a lunge feeding humpback whale. The whale came to the surface a few times, lifting its tail but was lost in the swell after watching two full dive sequences. We then went a little further to another flock of birds and were treated to a special encounter with a curious minke whale. The little whale repeatedly circled the boat, lifting its head above the surface as if it was watching us too. We were unable to leave as the whale swam extremely close, all we could do was wait until the whale was bored of the interaction. When this occurred we journeyed home and watched another minke whale breach over ten times from 20-50 metres away. The whale was full of energy as it leapt without pausing many times. Amazing tour in challenging conditions

- Mike Smith

✔ CLASSIC WHALE WATCHING ON SCHEDULE | 19:00

Bird species observed: northern gannets, northern fulmars, puffins, black guillemot, great skua, arctic skua, arctic tern, black legged kittiwake, herring gull, lesser black backed gull, greater black backed 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 from others is not possible.