Tuesday, 03 June 2014

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We headed out into the bay this evening in very good conditions, calm winds and some small swells. Conditions were excellent for whale watching and we had high hopes for the tour. About 40 minutes into the trip we spotted our first cetacean of the trip, a minke whale! This individual was very calm and quite sociable. It swam around quite slowly and surfaced quite close to us, giving us a good look at its head and blowholes. It also surfaced right in the glare of the sun giving a very picturesque image with the sun glinting of its back. We stayed with this whale for most of the tour as when we started to head off it would always reappear quite close to us again. A very friendly and sociable individual and now a part of many holiday albums. Heading back to Reykjavik we were greeted by a beautiful sight as we sailed between Akurey and Engey. There was a rainbow reaching from the shore to Mt. Esja, the grass on the islands shone bright green against the dark blue sea and sailboats were sailing all around us. A fantastic ending to a very good tour.

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The good weather had continued into this afternoon and so had our high spirits, this summer sunshine makes everything so much better. We sailed out from Reykjavík again in our efforts to find the whales, we had heard from other boats that were out at sea that there were whales spotted quite a long way out of the city. When we reached that area the whales had disappeared and so we set about finding our own whales. We managed to find 3 Minke Whales and 2 pods of 1-2 Harbour Porpoises along this trip. The minke whales were all being very sneaky and would only surface a few times before diving down and rarely coming back to the surface, one did appear right in front of the boat which gave us all a fright but it was a very welcome surprise. Because our sightings of the whales were so difficult we decided at the end of the tour we would give out complimentary tickets so everyone could come again to see some less shy whales.

- Jack Ball

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: This afternoon the wind had picked up slightly and white capped waves were starting to from towards the north. We decided because of that to head south again towards where we had seen some cetaceans this morning. Our first sighting of the day came a bit before reaching our intended searching spot. We spotted some splashes and soon after their owners the Harbour Porpoises emerged. A pod of them, perhaps around 9-10 individuals swam alongside us, giving us a good look at these small cetaceans before they swam off. A good start to the tour and we sailed on, hoping to find some larger cetaceans. Pretty soon our search was rewarded and we found a Minke whale, identified by our researchers as an individual called Flickr. Flickr surfaced quite close to our boat giving us a good look at it. We also saw the blow very clearly and the head as it surfaced. He continued on surfacing a few more times and then said goodbye to us and swam off. We continued our sailing and discovered another minke whale a bit further north, but this individual was quite elusive, much more so than Flickr. After that encounter we sailed back to Reykjavík in increasing winds, but in good spirits after a good tour with the minkes and porpoises.

-Ívar Elí

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: With magnificient weather and perfect condtions we knew that no matter what we would have a great day! And to make everything even better the cetaceans were celebrating too, this morning we saw two great species. The Minke Whale and the Harbour Porpoise! The benefit of a 10:00 tour is that we can take all the hard work the 09:00 did finding whales and use it for ourselves. We sailed directly for the area we knew there were whales. Lately whenever we see minke whales the porpoises are following them, over the course of the trip we saw around 12 porpoises and we got a close look at 7 minke whales. But there were more minkes in the area around so there was over 10 whales in the bay today! They were swimming very close often and were very calm around the boat. We even got to turn off the engine so we could hear the whales breathing at the surface, it was such a pleasure to see these whales today. And to top everything off one even rolled at the surface! It was a really memorable trip that was something everyone could enjoy!

- Jack Ball

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Another morning with absolutely perfect sighting conditions: the sea was almost mirror-like and the clouds gave it a perfect light grey colour. And in around the same area as yesterday we found lots of Minke Whales and Harbour Porpoises again. We watched the minkes surface in all directions around us, some of them moving fairly close to each other, others peacefully swimming on their own. And in this beautiful weather we also got plenty of looks at the porpoises. Some of them came very close to the boat and others were travelling quite quickly - offering nice looks at their bodies as they splashed out of the water. The minke whales also did not seem at all bothered by our presence, one of them popped up right in front of our boat a couple of times! We got to see its head, the blowholes and nice details of its coloration. Our researchers on board were able to identify one of the minkes as a previously discovered individual called "Flickr". After enjoying this seemingly productive area for a good while it was time to turn around again and enjoy some music on the sunny sail back to the harbour.

- Linda

Birds seen on todays tour include: Common Guillemot, Atlantic Puffin, Northern Fulmar, Kittiwake, Black-Backed Gull, Eider Duck, Arctic Tern, Arctic Skua, Manx Shearwater, Northern Gannet, Brent Goose.