Thursday, 20 July 2023

 Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 20:00 Premium Whale tour and on our lovely vessel Eldey, Hafsúla and Elding  for the 09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00, 17:00 and 20:30 Classic Whale Watching tours. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land. 

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 12:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 16:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 20:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 20:30

Report from Eldey: we started our day with the sun hidden on the clouds, but a good and weak wind that we enjoyed while looking for our favorite animals. On the way, we spotted many Atlantic puffins and we had the first encounter of the day with 3 harbour porpoises travelling close to our boat. We noticed more activity ahead spotting blows in the distance and we decided to continue, but on the way we also saw at least 5 minke whales probably going to the same spot. When we got closer to the blows, we saw 2 humpback whales feeding together. They weren't alone: a pod of 20-25 white-beaked dolphins was taking advantage of this feast and the minkes were surrounding the area as well, along with the many seabirds following the whales. What. A. Show! The humpbacks came to take a breath and the dolphins would follow them, but what made us open-mouthed for about 20 min straight was the humpbacks doing bubble net feeding and lunge feeding right in front of our eyes... Repeatedly! We could all get great and many looks of the bubbles, their mouth wide open, the fish running away from it, the water coming out of the whale's mouth... Unfortunately we needed to start heading back to Reykjavik, but at the end, we ended up seeing our four main species during our summertime. It will be very hard to forget about this tour, that's for sure!

- Milla Brandao

Report from Hafsula: It was more of a grey day when we sailed out this morning with the ocean matching the colour of the sky. The ocean was very calm but we did have a bit of wind when we picked up speed. After only 20 minutes of sailing we saw 2 harbour porpoises but they are elusive so we decided to head on. Only a bit further we saw 2 minke whales, but we heard rumours of a lot of activity so carried on. After another 10min it was clear that we had reached a feeding frenzy, first we saw a few more minkes, then a pod of 5 white beaked dolphins and 2 lunge feeding humpback whales. It was difficult to pick a direction as there was so much going on. The two humpbacks were Davy Jones II and Happy. Both came up regularly and close to the boat, often showing their fluke, pectoral fin or lunge feeding. During this whole time there were roughly 13 minkes feeding around us, some in the distance and some closer. The pod of dolphins were travelling and feeding and started jumping as well. It was an absolutely amazing and breathtaking experience. We turned the engines off and just let the animals feed around us, only heading back when we were really out of time!

- Anna Richter

Report from Eldey: We sailed out of Reykjavik in mix sunny and cloudy conditions. The seas were calm and almost no wind. Early on in the tour we saw white beaked dolphins jumping in the distance. We didn't stay because we were heading to the same area as previous tours. Later on we saw a total of 2 dolphins pods. As the boat ventured further over 10 minke whales appeared around us, keeping us company through out the tour. The tours highlight came when 2 humpback whales stole the show. One of them astonished everyone with a breathtaking breach. We had the pleasure of hanging out with all these cetaceans for a good time, but soon enough we had to head back to Reykjavik. On our way back 1 solitary harbour porpoise appeared close to the boat. A nice ending to a very good tour. 

- Ludvig Hultgren Svensson

Report from Hafsula: This afternoon we sailed out from a slightly sunny Reykjavik to a slightly grey Faxaflói. On our way out we spotted 4 harbour porpoises, on two different occasions as well as 2 pods of 5 white beaked dolphins. All of these cetaceans were more on the elusive side and seemed to be busy feeding or travelling. As we had such luck on the morning tour, we planned to check out the same spot. As we got closer we saw 2 minke whales and then another! It seemed like we were getting closer to our lucky spot. As we approached we quickly saw Davy Jones II (the humpback whale) feeding again. There was another humpback whale but this one stayed a little further away whereas Davy often came very close to our boat, making bubbles as he did. He showed us his beautiful fluke multiple times, and was even rolling around showing us his pectoral fins. We turned off the engines and just enjoyed the view. There were roughly 6 minkes popping up, however it was hard to keep track. Sadly we ran out of time and had to leave sweet Davy to his meal and return back to harbour.

- Lasse Roggenkamp

Report from Eldey: After a long and amazing day having great sightings of our favorite whales, we went far out again to the same area, since we had active whales in one spot. This time, the whales were a bit further out than on the previous tours, but we were focused on finding them. On the way, we spotted at least 3 minke whales and 3 different small pods of white-beaked dolphins, and we could see them jumping and splashing a lot on the flat sea. The cherry of the cake was at the end: at one spot, we had 2 humpback whales feeding, many seabirds, more dolphins and many uncountable minkes around us! Definitely a great area. We decided to enjoy these animals in quiet, with so much going on around us. All of a sudden, we felt the stinky breath of the minkes around, and we noticed we were truly enjoying nature right there. With this amazing encounters, we started heading back to the harbour, but we could still spot another pod of jumping dolphins (quite high!), 2 more minkes and one single harbour porpoise. The beginning of the sunset followed us on our way back home to Reykjavik and we enjoyed the rest of the ride on this very calm sea.

- Milla Brandao

Report from Hafsula: This evening we sailed out onto an eerie grey ocean, there was no swell and very little wind. On these conditions its always easy to spot cetaceans as they contrast the ocean a lot when they surface. On our way out we spotted 4 harbour porpoises, but headed further out as they quickly vanished. Not much later we saw 2 pods of white beaked dolphins of roughly 6 individuals each. Both were a bit in the distance and as we were eager to get further out we continued on. Then we got back to our favourite spot of the day and saw 3 minke whales and 2 sleeping humpback whales. They did wake up slightly when the other boat arrived but quickly fell back asleep. It was our two faves of the day, Davy Jones II and Happy. It was super quiet and calm as we watched these sleeping beauties. We stayed with them as long as we could and were all in awe together. Then when time ran out we headed home, seeing one more pod of 8 white beaked dolphins on the way. A truly magical evening. 

- Anna Richter 

Black headed gull, Black backed gull, Northern fulmar, Northern gannet, Arctic tern, Arctic skua, Razorbill, Common guillemot (plus babies), Eider duck, Manx shearwater, Herrnig gull,