Tuesday, 2 July 2024

Today we will be operating our Classic Whale Watching on our lovely vessel Eldey at 9:00, 13:00, 17:00, 20:30 and our just as lovely catamaran Elding I at 11:00. Our Premium Whale Watching tour will operate on Þruma I-V at 14:00, 16:00 and 20:00.

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 17:00, 20:30
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 15:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00, 16:00, 20:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00, 12:00

We sailed out in a fairly calm bay of Faxafloi. After sailing out for a while we encountered a pod of about 6 white beaked dolphins that seemed to be feeding as they kept changing directions a lot. We watched them for some time and decided to continue our search further out in the bay. We spotted a blow in the far distance and tried to approach and find out what species had caused this quite large blow. We kept seeing the blow but didn`t manage to be in the right place at the right time. However, all of the sudden, a minke whale came up right next to our vessel and most people got a good look at that individual. We also spotted another pod of about 8 white beaked dolphins within that area. When we almost ran out of time we found the whale that had caused the large blow that we kept seeing earlier: It was a humpback whale. It surfaced a bit away from us but still most people got to see its back at the surface. 

-Lasse Roggenkamp

Report from Elding: As we set sail this morning the skies were overcast and a slight drizzle fell upon us. The seqs were however fairly calm and so we were excited to head out into the bay. After sailing for some time, we spotted a minke whale, which we saw surfacing multiple times close to the boat. Then, we spotted a very busy flock of birds in the distance and decided to have a closer look. inbetween the birds we spotted 15-20  White beaked dolphins having a feeding frenzy. We could enjoy these energetic animals for quite some time, until we spotted a big blow in the distance. Upon closer investigation, we saw a second blow. Quickly we realised 2 humpback whales were around us. both individuals surfaced alternatingly and we could stay with them until it was time to head back home again. Satisfied about the day, we had a smooth sailing back into port.

- Milan Vansteelandt

Report from Eldey - this afternoon we sailed out with no wind and light rain, nothing that can stop us! We sailed out straight to the area where we been lucky recently and as we got closer we quickly noticed more birds around - good indication of lots of food in the area. Our first sighting was a minke whale surfacing in the distance and soon a pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins appeared. After following the dolphins for a while we spotted a few more minke whales in the distance so we tried to approach that area and indeed, 3 minke whales were feeding there and surfacing regularly close to the boat. We spotted another pod of white-beaked dolphins, feeding close to the surface with many birds around. It was a great show, the pod was feeding so close we could even see the fish trying to escape the dolphins. Our last sighting was a blow of a humpback whale and although we saw it surface twice the whale was traveling at a full speed so we had to start our way back to Reykjavik.

-Aleksandra Lechwar

Report from Eldey: Our tour started perfectly, with a small group of clients and calm sea conditions. Sure, there were some waves moving the boat from one side to the other, but  it woulnd't be as fun if there were not! After less than an hour searching we were surprised by a minke whale that surfaced right infront of our boat, catching everyonwe by surprise. The minke whale surfaced a couple more times, given the chance for most people to see it. But the best of the tour was yet to come. As we approached a feeding frenzy, where multiple birds were diving to grab fish from a big school bellow, we noticed some fins surfacing, under the birds. These fins belonged to a pod of white-beaked dolphins that were being accompanied by 1 or 2 humpback whales. The socialization among these animals was amazing, with breaches dolphin included. An truly amazing tour!
-Ricardo Mendes

Report from Eldey: After a lovely day seeing many species we looked forward to our final tour of the day. We headed back to the same great area as the rest of the day, so it took about an hour to get there. We could see we were getting closer as the number of seabirds was increasing, especially the number of Atlantic puffins. Ahead we then see a big blow but before we could check it out we were surrounded by 20 white beaked dolphins. They were very spread out with some jumping and others moving much more slowly. Some came right up to our boat giving us an incredible look at them. We then also saw a minke whale surface, but it only came up on time. The big blow then went off again, a humpback whale was really close to our front now! It surfaced a few times then went for a beautiful fluke dive. We then followed this whale as it surfaced a lot and even lunge fed. We then came back across the same dolphins as earlier. A smaller group within this pod of 3-4 individuals were bowriding for a really long time too. We then had a slight turn of events as we had help with an emergency on a small fishing boat. Thankfully, the coast guard came and took the person away to safety. Whilst we were waiting to see if we had to help with this we could see in the distance a humpback whale was going a bit crazy. It was head slapping, lunge feeding and maybe even breaching! After the wait we then headed home after some great sightings and very thankful the person was safe with the coast guard too.

- Rob Hyman

Atlantic puffin, Northern fulmar, Northern gannet, razorbill, common guillemot, black guillemot, Arctic tern, Arctic skua, black legged kittiwake, herring gull, great and lesser black backed gull