Thursday, 27 July 2023

 Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 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:  The sea was surprisingly rough this morning compared to the stillness of the harbour. But luck was with us. Early on we saw blows in the distance and headed towards them. There we encountered 3 humpback whales, 2-3 minke whales and 2 pods of white beaked dolphins, 6-8 in each. Truly a hot spot for cetaceans.  One of the humpbacks lunge fed two times quite close to the boat giving everyone a good glimpse of these magnificent creatures. Since the animals were all in close proximity and there were loads of birds in the area as well, it is safe to say they were there with the sole purpose of feeding. Great tour with minimal motion sickness even though the sea was rough.

-Kristin Ros

Report from Elding: This morning we left the harbour with clear blue sunny skies. As we got further out the wind picked up a fair bit and we were excited for our adventure. After about an hour of sailing, lots of Arctic terns, gannets and Northern fulmars we spotted our first blow. It was a minke whale, but not just any minke - it was humpie the minke. Its named humpie as its dorsal fin looks very much like one of a humpback whale. Only a few miniutes afterwards we spotted another blow, this time a lot bigger! Twas a humpback whale! It was Davy Jones II again, who came fairly close and often showing his beautiful fluke when he went for a deep dive. This seemed like a prime spot as we saw Davy multiple times, Humpie multiple times and 3 more minkes popping up on occasion. When time was up we headed back to the harbour. 

- Anna Richter

Atlantic puffin, Common eider, Black-headed gull, Herring gull, Black-legged kittiwake, Great skua, Pomarine skua, Black guillemot, Common gull, Graylag goose, Northern fulmar, Northern gannet, Arctic tern.

Report from Eldey: Today the sun was strong and the ski was clear. The wind was quite strong from north creating some waves in the way to the midle of the bay. It took a while before we find the first individuals but eventually 1 Minke Whale appeared. This animal was not super sociable and just appeared a couple of times and we didn't see it again after he dived. The tour had to continue and we went to search for other species. After some minutes around 10 white beaked dolphins appeared and were jumping like all the time and riding the waves. Everyone enjoyed the company of these dolphins, they were super playfull with the boat. Another minke whale appeared quite close to the boat and unfortunately was our last sighting. After this minke whale we had to start to head back to the harbour finishing another good tour. 

Report from Eldey: With very clear skies, we sailed out in search for our favorite animals. The sea was a bit choppy, but the sunlight and the good visibility were telling us it would not be hard to spot something. After covering many areas in the bay, we got to a spot were we saw 3 white-beaked dolphins, coming very close to us! There was a juvenile amongst them, and he was quite curious and fast on the surface. However, they left us and we did not see them again, which made us to continue the trip. Unfortunately, after exploring more spots, we ended up not seeing other species on the bay. So we decided to give out complimentary tickets so passengers enjoy the bay in its full glory! Even so, we returned to Reykjavik admiring the beautiful midnight sunset we had on our back, looking at the mountains and the shape of Snæfellsjokull in the distance.

- Milla Brandao