Thursday, 8 July 2021

✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  09:00

Report from Elding: Conditions took a slight turn for the worse as a one metre swell swept through the bay from the west which was met by a secondary small, wind driven swell from the south. Weather remained dry throughout but always had the threat of rain with dark clouds looming overhead. As we made our way through the swell, a small pod of only two white beaked dolphins were sighted surfing, but they evaded our attention and surfaced at a distance on our 6 o'clock. Due to this avoidance behaviour, we let them be and continued our search. We came to a popular area were there was a greater abundance of birds feeding which helped us to locate a few minke whales that were spaced out. We watched one individual move quickly beneath the birds, causing a commotion. On another occasion we had a great view as a minke performed a surface sequence alongside our vessel. Lastly, at a great distance, we saw an enormous splash on multiple occasions, followed by the blow of clearly a larger whale, but we were unable to check out the disturbance due to time constraints. 

- Mike Smith

✔ PREMIUM WHALE & PUFFIN TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  10:00

Report from Þruma RIB: Today was a little more challenging than usual, we had a little more swell that caused a slightly bumpier ride but everyone really enjoyed the adventure. We first visited the island of Engey to visit the cute little puffins and then sped offshore to go searching for the whales. A large flock of birds helped us locate the first cetacean, a minke whale that we were able to see many times but only 2-3 times well. We noticed it had large notches cut out of its dorsal fin, maybe for some kind of entanglement at some stage. It will be interesting to see if this  animal has been seen on previous tours by looking into our research catalogue. We searched a large area to look for more whales but the bay seemed quiet on this tour. Hopefully sightings will pick up on the next. We offered our passengers complimentary tickets for free return trip on one of our classic whale watching excursions.

- Megan Whittaker

✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 13:00 

Report from Elding: Much of the same for the afternoon in terms of the weather and sea state. Dark clouds continued to fill the sky as the swell remained. Our sightings were a little more difficult to come by however, as we searched for the majority of the tour in search of cetaceans. On a few occasions we found groups of birds feeding and hoped to find some activity beneath with no joy. After close to two hours of searching we encountered a very energetic pod of white beaked dolphins. The pod consisted of 5-6 individuals all of a fairly large size, judging by the height of their dorsal fins as they broke the surface. The dolphins briefly interacted with the vessel, bow-riding, before being seen surfing in the swell. It looked as though they were enjoying the conditions. After our time with the pod ended, a large flock of birds, mainly containing puffins and kittiwakes were sighted. On our approach we saw the backs of two separate minke whales who appeared to be feeding within the group of birds. The passengers were able to get a good view of the whales as the surfaced, displaying their size. 

- Mike Smith

✔ PREMIUM WHALE & PUFFIN TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  14:00

Report from Þruma RIB: The forecast was showing that the swell and wind was calming down and so we got on our floatation suits and life jackets, quickly visited the puffins and then headed out in the bay we called Faxaflói. Once further offshore we contacted the other whale watching boats and it sounded like they were having a challenging time finding any cetaceans so we decided to search other areas and came across a pod of 4-6 white- beaked dolphins. There were a couple of very curious and boisterous calves with them that played around the boat. We got a very good look at them and stayed with them for a while but due to the movement of the boat a passenger was feeling a little seasick. Time was running out to by this point so we started to  head home but continued the search on the way. We got to see 2 harbour porpoises, which for some reason has not been so common this summer.

- Megan Whittaker

Bird Species ID´d today: Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Common Guillemot, Arctic tern, Arctic skua, Northern Fulmar, Kittiwake, Eider Duck, great-black backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, manx shearwater.

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00 Premium tour and our lovely vessel Elding for the 09:00 and 13:00 Classic tour. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land. Join us by booking online or contact us directly for more information (elding@elding.is / +354 519 5000).

COVID-19: Keep in mind that passengers and crew are asked to ensure their own hygiene and safety at all times. Washing hands thoroughly with soap and using a hand sanitiser is advised. Masks are not mandatory but are recommended in areas where keeping distance from others is not possible.