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Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: In the beginning of this midnight tour, the wind was a bit rough, but the sun was shining and we were hoping to have a nice evening on faxa bay. We enjoyed the Atlantic Puffins on the puffin island Lundey, but as we went further out, the weather conditions got worse than expected, so we decided to turn back to the harbour earlier than usual and gave out complimentary tickets to all our passengers - We hope to see you again on one of our future trips!

- Hendrik Schultz

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The wind had picked up a little bit this afternoon. We started by visiting Lundey before heading further out. We wanted to try our luck with the humpback whale so we headed directly there. When we got out we saw a big blow, it must be from a Humpback Whale! And there it was. It was not showing a lot of itself but it made it all up by tail flapping and lunge feeding right on front of the boat! We stayed with the humpback throughout the tour. Very nice afternoon!

-Sveinn Guðmundsson

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: After a little stop at Akurey, the puffin island, where we said hello to the Atlantic puffins, we headed out towards where we had been reported a humpback whale was seen. Indeed, as we arrived in the area, we were greeted by the strong blow of a Humpback Whale. We saw it surfacing several times, exposing its black humped back and even lobtailing a couple of times. Lobtailing is a behaviour where the whale lifts its fluke and then flaps it on the water - very impressive to see! Later, we tried to find something else, but besides some interesting seabirds such as the Northern Gannets and cute Atlantic Puffins we were not able to spot further cetaceans. However, the sea had become quite rough and made this tour a true icelandic experience. For me personally, it was the goodbye hug of a little girl from Norway that made my day even before the midnight tour at 20.30 - tusen takk! :-)

- Hendrik Schultz

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The wind had gone down since this morning and the sun was even shining a bit. We started our tour in Lundey where we saw puffins, black guillemots and Eider ducks. Then we headed to the area where we had seen the humpback earlier that day. After a short sailing we saw big splashes in the distance. As we got closer we realized that this was a breaching Humpback Whale. It stopped the breaching before we got too close so we stayed with it an watched it surface for a while, even tail slapping a few times. Time ran out all to fast and we had to say goodbye to this beautiful animal and head back to Reykjavík.

-Freydís Ósk Hjörvarsdóttir

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: We headed out with a nice icelandic wind in our faces this morning. First, we visited Akurey, a puffin island, having a look at the charismatic "penguins of the north". It was nice to see plenty of them sitting on the watersurface. When we headed out, it did not take us very long until we spotted the blow of a Humback Whale. The animal seemed to be busy feeding since it undertook quite long dives between the surfacings. But still, we were very happy to see a humpack again during this time of the year, where we usually expect them to be further up north. Later in the tour, we headed further and tried to find something else, but all the Minke Whales that we usually see in the bay seemed eitgher to be still at breakfast or hiding somewhere. In the end, it was a nice tour with a Humpback Whale and some interesting seabirds.

Tour at 9:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We headed out this morning and it was rather windy. We headed straight out to look for some whales. It didn't look to good at first as we sailed for over one and a half hour before seeing anything. Then we spotted some White-beaked Dolphins. This was a pod of probably 15-20 individuals. They were traveling fast but we managed to get a very good look at them close to the boat. After we had followed them for a while we had to start heading towards the harbour as time was running out. On our way back we spotted a Humpback Whale. We saw it surface a few times before we had to leave it. We stopped in Akurey to see the atlantic puffins on the way back. The tour started out rather uneventful but what an amazing ending.

-Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir

 

Seabirds seen on today's tours: Atlantic Puffins, Eider Ducks, Arctic Terns, Kittiwakes, Black-backed Gulls, Common Guillemots, Razorbills, Northern Gannets