Tour at 20:30
The evening tour is unfortunately cancelled due to unfavourable weather. If your require further information please email us at elding@elding.is, call us at 519 5000 or drop down to us at the ticket office.
Tour at 17:00
Report from Hafsúlan: We sailed out this evening in quite a bit of rain but in very good spotting conditions despite that. Pretty soon we came up on our first species of the day which were the Minke whales. These individuals were quite elusive though and quite hard to track and follow. After a the first few sightings we decided to head further out and try to find some more sociable minkes. We searched on for about half an hour and then came up on another two minkes who were a lot more social. They surfaced quite close to our boat, giving us a very good look at them. Alongside these individuals we also spotted some of their smaller cousins, the Harbour porpoises, usually quite shy but there were plenty of them about this time around. They were also quite social and swam alongside us quite close to the boat. A small but a very fun addition for the tour. We then said goodbye to the minkes and porpoises and headed back towards Reykajvik.
-Ívar Elí
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: This afternoon we got to have an idea what it feels like to be a whale, we were soaking wet! There was a constant rain through the tour, but this never affects the whales. A little rain never hurt anyone! Everything else that happened on the trip was excellent though, we enjoyed a really fantastic tour today. First of all we found a group of 4 Minke Whales, they were calmly surfacing and diving around us coming very close on occasion. We spent around 30 minutes with these whales before moving on to find more species. The second species we found today was the Harbour Porpoises, this was a pod of 5 that were very calm and gave us a much better interaction than we normally see with this species. But we still wanted more! And we got it! We managed to see a third species this trip, the White-Beaked Dolphins! There were two that stayed close to us while there were three more in the distance, as they were surfacing we could see their beautiful black and white striped bodies very clearly. During this sighting out of nowhere two Minke Whales appeared, one of which was within metres of the boat! And this whale was in a playful mood as it did something very few people have the pleasure of seeing, it spy-hopped! This meant it brought just its head out of the water with the intention of looking at the passengers! This is a level of interaction that is incredibly rare, and something that should be cherished for a very long time. Great tour!
- Jack Ball
Tour at 13:00
Report from Hafsúlan: Spotting conditions this afternoon were good, with improving visibility and overcast skies. There was some rain and headwind as we sailed out but after about 30-40 minutes we reached a spot teeming with Minke whales! At first we spotted 4-5 individuals and a short while later we saw one of them very well up close. It turned out to be an individual we have identified as Peanut. Peanut surface three times very close to the front of the boat and once along our side before heading off. An excellent encounter. We then decided to head further out into the bay and to try our luck there. During our search there we found a few more minkes but they were mostly quite elusive. On our way back we went through the same area we had gone through in the beginning and spotted at least three more minkes. They swam quite close to us and we managed to identify one of them as Midi, another known individual. An excellent ending to the tour.
-Ívar Elí
Tour at 10:00
Report from Elding: The weather was really calm, but a cold wind was blowing from the South. After 25 Minutes into the tour we spotted our first Minke Whale. This individual surfaced quite predictably 4 times in a row between longer dives, after it had arched its back visibly. Soon, however, we headed out further into the Bay to observe a small pod of 4-5 White-beaked Dolphins. The dolphins joyfully leaped a couple of times and were milling around close to the surface for some time. We got word of a couple of Minke Whales further out and thus made our way in that direction. We passed by two Minke Whales, that were surfacing fast and disappeared quickly after we had slowed down our boat. At one point three Arctic Skuas, which were following a Seagull, pulled quite a show and demonstrated their acrobatic abilities close by the vessel. Finally, we could observe another Minke Whale on our way back into the harbour.
- Dominik
Tour at 09:00
Report from Hafsúlan: With some wind and almost no swell we started our tour. The sky was overcast during the whole tour and coloured the ocean in white and grey tones. This were good conditions to search for wildlife. Further out we spotted some splashes and soon after we saw the dorsal fins and backs of White-beaked Dolphins. We found a pod of several individuals divided into 3 subgroups, one subgroup of 6 animals were close by. Among them was one calf. Some dolphins have been leaping and there was a lot of direction changes and speeding up going on. Nearby were arctic terns feeding, so there was probably a lot of fish around. Suddenly one dolphin, from an other subgroup a bit further away, started jumping and landed backwards on the surface showing us the white underside of its body. This spectacle was repeated several times but at the end of the acrobatic display he leaped the other way around and hit the surface with his belly. We even saw the white beaks of several individual of the closest subgroup while they were heading towards us. There was some surfing and bow riding of them, so we had a really good look at these dolphins. Then we continued a bit further to observe 3 Minke Whales in one area, 2 quite close to each other. We were able to smell them and listen to them while our engine was in neutral and they have been quite close. Later we went back to the same pod of dolphins we watched before while more minkes appeared around us. As our time was up we turned back towards Reykjavik and on our way we met a second pod of white-beaked dolphins and some more minkes. In total we spotted 7-9 minkes and over 10 dolphins. We considered the trip as very good and and enjoyed it.
- Carine Zimmermann