Tour at 20:30
Report from Hafsúlan: The wind died down over the morning. However the clouds started to roll in and visibility dropped. One of our eagle eyed passengers spotted some white-beaked dolphins just in front of the boat. Unfortunately these dolphins were very shy and we only managed a few quick glimpses. Even though the sea was flat, the sea fog reduced the visibility around the boat making spotting very difficult. Then in the distance there was a blow and the fin from a minke whale that surfaced. However it was another shy individual and none of the passengers spotted it. It was at this time we started to have live music downstairs. And everyone went down to enjoy some warm drinks and being serenaded. Complimentary tours were offered so the next hopefully the tour will be more successful.
-Tommy Torrades
Tour at 17:00
Report from Hafsúlan: With a south easterly wind we could enjoy the nice sailing out into the bay with a warm but humid atmosphere. We sailed past the puffin colonies and traveled southwest close too grótta, the light house at the end of Seltjarnarnes peninsula, here our awesome researcher Alberto spotted a minke whale, it was obviously very cautious of our presence as it only surfaced twice with a long wait in between and unfortunately not many of our passengers got to witness it. This minke wanted to be left alone so we traveled further offshore and came across a flock of resting birds; gannets, manx shearwaters, guillemots, fulmars, kittiwakes, and leeser black-backed gulls, eureka! but after a long a patient wait and optimism we waited. No cetaceans showed up so we sailed further until suddenly splashes were seen in the distance, white-beaked dolphins! at least 6 individuals and more in the distance jumping. They were leaping out of the water and as it was landing they were hitting the surface with there tails. Maybe to stun fish or push the fish towards other dolphins. who knows for certainty. It was getting late and we needed to head home. On the way we encountered another 3 pods of 3-4 dolphins in each. No minkes or other whales unfortunately but the white-beaked dolphins certainly impressed us all.
-Megan Whittaker
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: This tour started with a group of 4 white-beaked dolphins not that far out in Faxaflói. They seemed to be traveling towards another area at high pace, but we were able to follow them for a while, before we started to look for other cetaceans. As we kept searching, we soon found a pod of 3-4 harbour porpoises in front of our boat. We could watch them for a few minutes before they disappeared - typical harbour porpoise style. We moved on and after some time, a minke whale showed up out of nowhere only 30 m from our boat. It was a big surprise and it only surfaced once, but at least a few of our passengers were looking in the right direction at the right time. While we were waiting in vain for it to resurface, another pod of 3-4 harbour porpoises kept us company for a few minutes. We had already started our way back to the harbour, when we saw another blow of a minke whale in a few hundred meters distance. We approached slowly hoping to finally get a good look at this animal, and our patience was rewarded with a minke whale surfacing right in front of us 4 times. We would have liked to spent a little more time with it, but after a few minutes we had to start heading back to the harbour.
- Hanna Michel
Tour at 13:00
Report from Hafsúlan: We went out still under a cloudy and grey sky, but with a relatively smooth sea. Rapidly, we spotted an important flock of birds. Hoping it was a good indicator to spot whales we joined them and waited. Finally, one shy white-beaked dolphin showed up, but this one was busy traveling away, swimming really fast, until we could not see it anymore. Determined to find a whale we kept on sailing toward the area we went this morning and we found a minke whale. It came quite close, passed under the boat and surfaced next to us, giving a nice show to the passengers. Quickly after that, we spotted 3 harbour porpoises in front of the boat. By the time we looked at them, the minke whale had run away to never be found again. Running out of time, we headed back to Reykjavik in a very quiet trip.
- Guillaume Calcagni
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: The sailing today from Reykjavík was not as smooth as yesterday but still comfortable. It didn't take long until we found a small pod of 4-5 white-beaked dolphins. They stuck around our boat for quite a while and we could still see them after we started to look for other cetaceans. After a few minutes we saw the blow of a minke whale and tried to get a look at this animals but didn't manage to spot it. As we kept searching we found another small pod of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins. However, we were determined to also find a minke whale, and a few minutes after we saw another blow, a minke whale surfaced 6 times in front of our boat. It vanished afterwards, but since it surfaced so often and close to our boat, still everyone onboard was able to see it before we headed back to the harbour.
- Hanna Michel
Tour at 9:00
Report from Hafsúlan: We set sail under a very cloudy sky, but fortunately the temperatures were relatively soft and the wind was not very strong. During our trip to the main spotting area, some puffins came to show us their colorful beaks. We could also witness the flight of northern gannets and arctic terns. Rapidly, we came across 2 white-beaked dolphins. The two individuals were quite elusive and quickly disappeared. We patiently kept on sailing until we found another 2 white-beaked dolphins and 2 minke whales. They were surfacing a lot but it was difficult to track and to show them, since the water was dark and the animals were not showing much of their body. It was not an easy spotting but finally one minke whale surfaced three times close to the boat, allowing the passengers to take a good look. After that, it was time to head back, and we sailed toward Reykjavik.
- Guillaume Calcagni
Bird species seen on today's tours include: northern gannets, northern fulmars, kittiwakes, arctic terns, puffins, common guillemots, manx shearwaters
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