Tour at 20:30
Under a sky full of sunshine we began our trip at Akurey, one of the two local puffin colonies. The puffins were so active and friendly we (including the crew) could have stayed there for hours. But we had something bigger on our minds. Sailing out into Faxaflói Bay under what may have been the most beautiful weather conditions yet for the "midnight" tour this year. There was just a slight breeze, plenty of sun and beautiful cloud formations. It was necessary to sail for quite some time, but it paid off. In the distance the Captain spotted some splashing, with the help of very good binoculars, and as we approached we saw it was a pod of White Beaked Dolphins. The pod, about 15, was swimming towards us, and then it seemed as if they came up to us, told us to follow them and swam in a specific direction. They then began to give us a spectacular areal display, jumping completely out of the water, sometime more than a meter, spinning and slapping the water as the came down. We awarded their show with many "ohh"s and "Awe’s and maybe even a couple "holy *#&!"s. As we continued our journey we came up on a few Minke Whales, including 2 juveniles who were feeding. They proved to be quite elusive and not very amused by our presence, so with respect we let them be. Our journey home couldn’t have been lovelier with a stunning sunset behind us.
Tour at 17:00
We headed straight out into the bay and soon we spotted some White-beaked Dolphins. There was a big group. They surfaced all around the boat. It was really nice! We stayed with them for a while and when we decided to go on and look for some other whales, we spotted some Harbour Porpoises and in the same area a Minke Whale and another one. There at least 3 animals in the area. The Minke Whales surfaced all around the boat and it came quite close. We stayed with them for a long time until we had to go back to the harbour. On our way back we visited the Puffin Island Akurey. Many Puffins were sitting on the water surface at the front of the Island. Nice end of a really nice tour!
Tour at 14:00
The sea was still very calm but not quite as calm as this morning. It had also started to rain a little bit but since the whales are already wet they don't really care about the rain and neither did we. We started the tour by sailing out to Faxaflói and had to search for about 40 minutes before seeing a Minke Whale. Then we realized there was not just one, but two or three minke whales in the same area! For the rest of the tour we had no trouble following the minke whales around and could even shut down the engine at one time to enjoy the sounds of the birds and whales. We then headed to Akurey to look at the puffins and they were cute as ever and all around. Another great tour.
Tour at 13:00
This tour we headed straight out to Faxaflói. First we spotted one Minke Whale. This Whale was very calm but deep diving for pretty long. While looking at this whale we spotted massive splashes on the other side of the boat. Immediately we turned the boat and headed that way. When we got closer we spotted a flock of feeding birds and right underneath the birds a Minke Whale lunged up to the surface so we were able to see half of the whale completely out of the water, this was so amazing. We stayed there for a while and there were at least 3 different individuals there rolling in the surface and launch feeding again and again and more ofthem were swimming there in the area little bit further away. We then ended the tour with a stop in Akurey to see the Puffins.
Tour at 10:00
We sailed out in beautiful weather, mirror calm sea and sunshine. First stop was puffin island Akurey where we visited the puffins. There were very many puffins on the island this morning, outside their holes, on the sea and flying around. We then sailed out to Faxaflói and joined the other whale watching boats which had been seeing some whales. Shortly afterwards we spotted the first Minke Whale and soon another one, and then another one and then... We ended up seeing at least 8-10 different individuals coming up in each direction and most of the tour was packed with both minke whales and puffins in the lovely calm weather. A great tour!
Tour at 09:00
The sea was so calm this morning just like a mirror and the sun was out. We started the tour by visiting Akurey to see the Puffins, the Island was packed with Puffins, both around the Island and flying above it. After looking at the Puffins we headed out and after a while we spotted Minke Whales, there were quite many of them where we were this morning at least about 8 animals. At one point we spotted several Harbour Porpoises as well. A really great tour with the perfect weather.