- Image
- Image
- Image
- Image
- Image
Tuesday, 2 April 2024
Today's Classic Whale Watching tours are on schedule and operating on our boats Eldey and Hafsúlan. The Premium Whale Watching tours at 09:00, 12:00 and 15:00 are cancelled due to unfavourable weather.
- CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 13:00
- PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 12:00, 15:00
It's quite windy today, so be sure to dress according to weather.
CLASSIC WHALE WATCHING 09:00
Report from Eldey: this morning the weather conditions were finally good as we left the marina, even if there was still a bit of wind. After some time of sailing, close to the peninsula of Akranes, we saw a group of white beaked dolphins. The group was not very large, around 7 individuals. They stayed with us for 10 minutes, in which we could see them feeding. They were slightly elusive, so after they left us, we continued our way deeper into the bay and Whale Fjord. We did not see further marine mammals and eventually we made our way back to port.
Rodrigo Ruiz Esquide
CLASSIC WHALE WATCHING | 13:00
Report from Eldey and Hafsulan: Words cannot describe the experience we shared today. Everything we could have ever wished for happened during the tour. We first saw a humpback whale, quickly followed by another one, and then they just kept coming. We reached an area where approximately 50 humpback whales, 7-8 fin whales, and 8 white-beaked dolphins were swimming, surfacing frequently all around us. We didn't know where to look - every second, a whale's back or blow or fluke came out of the water somewhere, often countless at the same time. Some humpback whales were breaching, doing a peduncle throw, slapping their tails and pectoral fins, while others were swimming in pairs or coming close to our boats. The fin whales never failed to impress with their sizes, especially when the dolphins swam next to them to show us the difference in their bodylengths. This sighting was an inspiring reminder of how much diversity the ocean has to offer, and we felt very privileged to have witnessed this beauty.
- Aleksandra Lechwar and Eline van Aalderink
Bird species encountered today:
Northern gannet, northern fulmar, great cormorant, European shag, eider duck, black-headed gull, black-legged kittiwake, herring gull, black guillemot, common guillemot
Wildlife encountered today:
The Humpback Whale is quite spectacular undergoing the longest migration of any mammal (5176miles/8334km one way), attracting females by singing to them and of course their energetic nature. On many occasions humpbacks have been seen breaching, tail slapping, fin slapping, blowing bubbles and spy hopping just to mention a few. The humpback is also one of the larger whales we encounter
Fin whales are the second largest animals after the blue whale. Fin whales have been know to mate with blue whales and produce viable offspring. It is incredible to see the exhaled breath (blow) reaching 6-10 meters high just like a small geyser rising from the oceans surface and the long body that seems never ending as it dives back into the blue abyss.
The white-beaked dolphin is the most common dolphin found in the surrounding waters of Iceland and is seen not only in the summer but winter too usually in larger numbers, hundreds sometimes. When feeding they show energetic behaviour such as breaching out of the water and coming down with a big splash and bursts of fast swimming.
Humpback whales have for long captivated humans due to their complexity, making them one of the most studied cetaceans in our world's oceans. Their intelligence, social behaviours and diverse surface activities have gained significant interest of researchers around the world. They exhibit a rich array of fascinating behaviours, contributing to our understanding of their intricate social structures and ecological roles in the marine ecosystem.