THURSDAY, 25 JULY 2019

TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  20:30

Report from Eldey: This was the perfect evening for a midnight whale watching tour. Smooth seas and flawless visibility over the bay. We sailed north to the areas where the dolphins had been seen on the previous tours. It was easy to spot them from afar. They were active, either feeding or playing, forming splashes at the surface. When we arrived many of them interacted with the boat, came right next to us so we could see their whole bodies, from the beak to the fluke under the water surface. There were at least 30 white beaked dolphins in this area. Around the dolphins was a flock of hungry northern gannets that dove fast into the water after prey. Further out a minke whale showed up. We managed to get some nice looks at this animal as it traveled. On the way back we enjoyed the smooth sailing with nice music, provided by our engineer Leo. 

- Sigurlaug Sigurðardóttir

TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  17:00

Report from Eldey: The sea was so calm that you could see the reflections of the birds that swooped down to the water’s surface, sooo beautiful. We were very lucky on this tour because we found a minke whale within 40mins and was able to watch and follow this whale a very long time. Captain Nonny was very impressive matching the course and speed of the animal to eventually have the minke whale surfacing 50 meters from our vessel. After maybe 30-40 minutes with the minke we continued and found a pod of 20 white-beaked dolphins much further offshore. Mothers and calves leaping and messing around as they chase after their food. Learning time for the baby dolphins. We stayed and watched in awe as they also played under and around the boat. Time was running out unfortunately and we had to head home, found a small pod of 4 more white-beaked dolphins on the way home but they weren’t really in a whale watching mood. We left them in peace and enjoyed the lovely ride home back to port. A really wonderful tour.

- Megan Whittaker

TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  14​:00

Report from Hafsulan: The afternoon started out with a mirror flat sea and even though it was warm, the sun was covered by clouds, which made it the perfect condition to go whale watching. And so it was not a big surprise to see the first of a tour-total of 6 harbour porpoises just after passing Akurey, one of the puffin islands in Faxafloi bay. Those very shy animals kept popping up throughout the whole tour as a big surprise to everyone. After sailing for about 30 minutes, we got a call from one of the rib-boats, who found dolphins. Only when we got closer we saw, that it was multiple pods, adding up to over 30 white-beaked dolphins. The group consisted of adults and juveniles, which made the perfect mix to be super playful and curious towards our boat. Having them jumping all around us, diving underneath the boat and checking us out just as we did check out them, it was the best time ever and we only left after more boats arrived to give the animals more space. The rest of the tour we found the remaining porpoises and simply enjoyed a beautiful day out at sea.

-Christina Winkler

TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  13​:00

Report from Eldey: I love days like today!, the water was calm and the wind was not blowing so we went out really optimistic. It was a beautiful sailing until we got to our usual spotting area and after 40 minutes we spotted 2 minke whales not too far from the boat. We saw them surfacing many times and then stopped our boat trying to have a better look of them. After half an hour we decided to continue with the adventure so we sailed towards Akranes and Bingo! We found a huge pod of 20 white beaked dolphins jumping out of the water. It was nice to see the pod full of dolphins with their calfs, now we know the future is guaranteed here in Faxafloi Bay. Everybody took a really nice picture and that is what I call a good tour.

Jose Manuel Marco

TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  10​:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The sea was very calm this morning, it was very cloudy but it was quite nice and warm. We did have to search for the animals for more than an hour. We did end up finding a minke whale, but it was very elusive, likely travelling, so we moved on and found a second minke whale a little later. At first it seemed to be a little bit elusive like the other one but then it surprised us by popping up just right next to our boat! It was super nice and it kept surfacing very close to us for a while until we ran out of time and had to head back to Reykjavík. It was a beautiful encounter and we enjoyed being so close to this large animal.

-Kristín Viðja
 

TOUR ON SCHEDULE|  09:00

Report from Eldey: Nice calm seas awaited for us this morning out in the bay, we were very excited to meet it. We sailed out to our usually spots, 1 hour sailing is the typical sailing duration for us lately to get to our most productive areas. First cetaceans to be seen was a large pod white-beaked dolphins. A pod of at least 10 dolphins, mainly mothers and their calves including a dolphin known well to us called ´ Only Gabriela´ seen regularly since 2008. They were leaping and playing under and around the boat. All you needed to do was look down. A few boats came to the area then to minimise stress we left. 10-15 minutes later we found a minke whale, a little elusive but all passengers could see it as it went from one flock of birds to another. As more boats came again we left and found another minke after 20 more minutes. This one was more elusive and was only seen 3 times before disappearing. We had a great tour with dolphins, minkes, birdlife and scenery and quite rare in iceland, but plentiful this summer…..good weather.

Megan Whittaker

We are sailing from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík today.The seas should be calm today, but if you are prone to getting sea sick, we do have sea sickness tablets available free of charge at the office and on board. Make sure to dress warmly and make use of our warm overalls as it is always colder on sea than on land. For more information contact us by email elding@elding.is or by phone +354 519 5000.