09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00, 17:00, 20:30: RUNNING
Tour at 20:30
Report from Elding: tonight really illustrated the marvels of Iceland´s big W´s: Wildlife and Weather. We headed out in slightly rocky seas and miserable rainy conditions. This did not stop us from getting in our free overalls and being outside. We sailed a long time with very little to see, just the odd single porpoise splash here and there and the occasional bird flying past THEN.......BAM Humpback, minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, huge flocks of seabirds all seen without moving the boat. It always astounds how sudden it can be to go from nothing to everything in a split second. Minkes were hard to spot as they were surfacing very fast but incredible to see lunge feeding under the flocks of bird, guide saw at least 3-4 individuals, maybe passengers saw 1-2. Humpback (Not Charlie) was being annoyed by at least 2-3 white-beaked dolphins. On the way home 2-3 porpoise splashes were seen and the sunset was incredible. At its best after we finished cleaning the boat at midnight with a huge, vibrant rainbow and intense oranges and pinks. Only in Iceland can you see rainbows at midnight. Incredible tour.
- Megan Whittaker
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: For the tour this evening we had an overcast sky and light rain again, however, the sea conditions were actually calmer than on the previous tour. After sailing for a little while, we were shortly joined by 2 harbour porpoises and only some minutes later we had an amazing encounter with a humpback whale. This animal surfaced repeatedly around our boat, dived below it and once came up right in front of our bow, allowing us to get a really close look at it. While we were enjoying the encounter with the humpback whale, a minke whale also surfaced nearby, but it was gone rather quickly. Only shortly afterwards we came across another minke whale, surfacing twice and going for a longer dive. When we were starting to make our way back to the harbour, a pod of 5-7 harbour porpoises surrounded our boat, giving us a taste of their impressive speed.
- Diana Besel
Tour 14:00
Report from Hafsúlan: The first hour of the tour it was raining and the wind was quite cold. It was hard to believe that we are actually in June! But from the moment we started seeing cetaceans the weather gradually got better. We started out seeing a pod of 4-5 harbour porpoises, and afterwards we found a minke whale. On the tour we saw a total of 4 minke whales. But the peak of the tour, was our meeting with the humpback whale Charlie! We enjoyed the company of the humpback for a long time and it came incredible close to the boat, and was very relaxed in our presence. While we where looking at Charlie it stopped raining and incredible enough, we could see the sun! A real Icelandic day at sea!
- Mia Rasmussen
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: We sailed out again under similar weather conditions to the previous tour, some movement of the waves, some rain, but nothing that our good ship Eldey couldn't manage. Even though the rain was not giving us a break, we were still in a good mood and managed to spot one minke whale 5 miles from the city. Unfortunately at that very moment, an accident occured and we had to cut the trip short and turn the boat around so the passenger can get opropriate medical attention. For this reason we gave our guests the possibility of coming back for free or to get a full refund. Everyone on board was very understanding and compassionate and we are thankful for the cooperation they showed us.
-Lucas Heinrich
Tour at 10:00
Report from Hafsúlan: It kept on raining and the northerly winds reminded us of winter. A few pods of harbour porpoises swam past our boat early on, they seemed to be feeding when they surfaced at fast, making splashes at the surface. There must have been at least 15-20 porpoises. We received news of a humpback whale far out, a minke whale surfaced a few times parallel to our boat on our way but we decided to not stop and go straight to the humpback. The humpback was very relaxed and stayed always close to the surface, only going for short dives. While watching the humpback we spotted another minke whale, this one we followed until heading back to Reykjavík.
- Sigurlaug Sigurðardóttir
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: It was a rainy and bumpy morning out in Faxa bay, but fortunately the wind was weak so we didn't get too cold, the provided overall made sure of that! We like to say that the rain don't harm in any kind of way our chances to spot cetaceans, and we were proved right once more as we got to catch glimpses of 2 elusive minke whales, we saw a dozen of harbour porpoises dashing through around us, but the highlight of the tour was our beloved Charlie the humpback whale, that is still around the bay with us! We got a kind of special encounter with it as it was seemingly having a nap, resting on the surface in a logging behaviour. Just before we left the area, Charlie went the trouble to lift its tail fluke above the sea water before a lazy dive, ending the encounter brilliantly.
- Guillaume Calcagni
Bird species seen on today's tour include: arctic tern, common guillemot, black-legged kittiwake, herring gull, great skua, lesser black-backed gull, northern gannet, northern fulmar, Atlantic puffin, arctic skua, razorbill & eider duck.
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. There is some wind and swells out on Faxabay so if you are sensitive to motion sickness we do have seasickness tablets free of charge at the ticket office. On board there are heated indoor areas but we also have overalls to keep you warm out on deck. For more information please contact us via phone at +354 519 5000 or by e-mail at elding@elding.is.
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