Thursday, 25 May 2017

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: I would be lying if I said this tour was anything but spectacular! We started out with the sun shining in our faces and encountered 2 harbour porpoises just outside of the harbour. Although it stayed quiet for almost another hour after that, the wait was well worth it. We encountered a humpback whale as well as a minke whale feeding together. And the humpback blew everyone away - breeching, tail slapping and peduncle slapping several times and finally swimming right to the boat and making a circle around it, looking at all of us. What a way to turn things around, it wasn't just us watching anymore, it was also watching us. For over 30 minutes it stayed with the boat, repetedly showing us it's acrobatics. Breathtaking!!

- Sabrina Voswinkel

Tour at 13.00

Report from Eldey: The sky was full of clouds, there was almost no wind and the sea was very clam, very good condition to spot cetaceans. Already after about 30 minutes we spotted a pod of 5-6 white-beaked dolphins. They where very easy going and where calmly swimming around the boat. surfacing smooth so we got a good look at their white sides. After we left the dolphins we spotted a minke whale. Whale we where watching the minke whale an other minke whale showed up. Than we got a note from an other boat that they had seen a humpback whale. When we came to the other boat the humpback whale was still around and gave us multiple times a good look at his fluke whale showing its tail. After spending some time we went on our way back. On the way back 3-4 harbour porpoises came up to the boat but as soon as they came they left again. Overall it was an amazing tour! Seeing all of the most common species in one tour! So incredible!

- Alexandra Bouman

Tour at 9:00

Report from Eldey: Although the sky was overcast and we had light rain, this trip turned out to be one to remember for everyone on board! Once we had reached a fair distance from the harbour, we were greeted by around 10 harbour porpoises that were spread aroud the bow. As there were many birds around as well, we knew we had to scan the area thoroughly and carefully. And, as hoped for, we found a pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins that we could stay with for a good while. But because we knew there must be more around with all the birds feeding in the area, we moved on. We encountered another 2 pods of white-beaked dolphins, one travelling and the other one showing the most amazing jumps and even summersaults! To top it all off, 2 minke whales surfaced several times in the same area. Even on the way back we saw another 2 white-beaked dolphins and more harbour porpoises. What a lively tour!!

- Sabrina Voswinkel

Birds seen on this tour: Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Arctic Tern, Herring Gull, Black-backed Gull, Northern Fulmar, Manx Shearwater.