Thursday, 16 May 2024

Today we will be operating our Classic Whale Watching on our lovely vessel Hafsúlan at 9:00, 13:00 and 17:00. Our Premium Whale Watching departure times are 10:00, 11:00, 14:00 and 15:00 

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 9:00, 13:00, 17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00, 11:00, 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 15:00

Report from Hafsulan: today we started our morning with cloudy skies and calm seas. Again, we saw no white caps created by the waves breaking, so it would be easier to spot any sign of life! On the way, we spotted a few Atlantic puffins at the surface, and we passed by a flock of Northern gannets diving. So we felt we were close to finding cetaceans. And we did! We saw a minke whale in front of the boat, that popped up a few more times. It was a bit tricky, but we also saw there was another minke further away. However, we could never see it again. We explored other areas, to see if we were lucky again, but we ended up seeing anything else. So, since the minke we saw was a bit elusive, we decided to give out complimentary tickets so the passengers can have another chance of coming and seeing the bay in its full glory!

- Milla Brandão

Report from Hafsulan: The afternoon started with some rain as we sailed out to looking for some whales and dolphins in the bay. After sailing for about half an hour we had our first clue of wildlife, a large flock of birds diving rapidly foraging for fish. We waited in the area and then our captain sighted the first whale of the trip! A minke whale! The whale resurfaced a couple of times but still a bit far from the boat and we decided to continue our trip. just a couple of minutes after another minke whale!! This time the whale seemed more curious and came closer to our boat swimming around us! Great sighting! We stayed with the whale for about 20 minutes before we decided to continue our journey! We were still able to spot a small pod of white beaked dolphins feeding in the same area before we head back to the harbour! 

- Maria Ernesto

Report from Hafsulan: on our last tour of the day, we already started it with a lot of rain and strong wind on our faces! Still, the visibility was good to spot our favorite animals. We decided to go to the same area we went on the afternoon and we did see a blow, but we couldn't find the body that this blow belonged to. So we continued our trip and about 5 min after we saw a couple of dorsal fins! We had a very nice pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins that came very close to us, and we had fun watching them while they bowrided. They were just passing by and said hello to us, but soon enough they decided to say goodbye. On the way back to Reykjavík, the weather completely changed: the skies were blue and clear, the sun slowly setting made this beautiful sun glare and light on the landscape around. We saw what we thought it was the same pod of dolphins, and now one of them was doing an interesting behaviour: it was very fast at the surface, almost like chasing something, but also slapping the tail every time it came up. These dolphins once again came very close and we had another round of bowriding! Closer to the harbour, almost next to the entrance, we spotted a blow of a minke whale, feeding with some Northern gannets in the area. This minke was very close to us a couple of times, and it was great to have great and predictable sightings of it -- something that we don't get much from these tricky minkes! It was a beautiful way to end the tour, and we came back to the harbour happy and excited for the pictures.

- Milla Brandao

Atlantic puffin, manx sheawater, black-legged kittiwake, Northern gannet, black guillemot, common eider duck, Arctic tern, Northern fulmar, herring gull, common gull, great black-backed gull.