Tuesday, 22 August 2023

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00 Premium Whale tour and on our lovely vessel Eldey and Hafsúla  for the 09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00, 17:00 and 19:00 Classic Whale Watching tours. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land.    

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 12:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 16:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 19:00

Report from Eldey: After a few grey days and a cancelled day yesterday (due to bad sea conditions) we were excited to be back in Faxafloi. It was gloriously sunny but there was wind coming from the north so a little chilly on the sail out. Not long after leaving the harbour we already encountered our first species of the day - a pod of 6 white beaked dolphins! They were half feeding half playing, and came very close to us often swimming under the boat and bow riding! We could tell they had their fun and we're back to feeding so we decided to leave them in peace. We sailed on a little and could see lots of Northern gannet plunge diving and decided to stop and wait to see if there were any cetaceans enjoying the same snack. And there were, 2 minke whales popped up and one again came very close to our boat. With minkes you never know what to expect and they often don't stay at the surface too long but this minke whale came up 4 times, each time very close to us. When we saw multiple boats arrive we thought it best not to overcrowd the animals and headed a little more North. We spotted another minke whale as we did, again a fairly friendly one that was happy to stick around a lot. We noticed our time ticking away so had to head back to harbour but as we did spotted another pod of 7 white beaked dolphins! This pod was a little bit more active and jumped out a few times as well. After a few moments together they headed further out and so we turned and went back to Reykjavik. 

- Anna Richter

Report from Hafsula: Faxafloi was beautiful today as the sun shone brightly and there was almost no wind. We spotted a pod of 10 white-beaked dolphins that swam around us for a long time, coming up synchronously as they came up for a breath. After this beautiful sighting we moved on to search for something else, and we very quickly found a minke whale! The minke whale came up right in front of the boat, and we followed her as she swam towards the Reykjanes peninsula. When she went for a deep dive, we continued further north as we had spotted a few more minke whales in that direction. Since there were so many individuals in this area, we were able to see them almost without waiting. On our way back to the harbour we crossed paths with two more minke whales and also found 2 pods of each 3 harbour porpoises. It was wonderful to have seen so many animals on this great morning. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Eldey: This afternoon we sailed out onto Faxafloi, still enjoying the sun on our backs and faces. There was still a Northerly wind so with lots of hot chocolate and sun cream we ventured out on our adventure. On our way out we spotted a small pod of 4 harbour porpoises, that we could see for quite a bit. This is always a treat as they can often disappear. A little bit further out we then came across our gannet hotspot again and similarly to the morning were joined by 2 minke whales. One was a bit more on the elusive side but the other made up for it and came quite close to the boat. We stayed as long as we could and eventually started heading back to harbour when time ran out. On the way back we could still see lots of gannets feeding and enjoyed watching the little splashes they made. And then with only half an hour left to go we spotted 4 more harbour porpoises. This could well be the ones from the way out, however it is often hard to tell. 

- Lasse Roggenkamp 

Report from Hafsulan: We sailed out under the lovely late summer sun. There also wasn't too much wind making it a pleasant outward journey. The journey took us just under an hour before we reached our cetacean hotspot. We knew we had reached an area with plenty of food because of the number of Northern gannets plunge diving. In this area we saw 6-7 minke whales. A few of them came very close to us giving us a great view of their body. At one stage we could smell these "stinky minkes" too! Because of the calm conditions whenever one surfaced we could hear the blow very clearly giving us a great indication of where they were. After spending a lot of time with these baleen whales we headed home with a boat full of happy passengers in the sun.

- Rob Hyman 

Report from Eldey: This evening we sailed out onto our favourite bay once more. They sky was still blue and there was still wind but the sun was slowly setting, making the mountains look very defined. As we sailed out our captain spotted a small blow so we went to investigate. 'Twas a minke whale! This was quite an elusive individual, so after a brief encounter we headed onwards. We spotted some big splashes on the horizon and went for a closer look. It was a pod of 8 white beaked dolphins! This was quite a active pod, often coming close to the boat and jumping out of the water! We did see another pod of 5-7 individuals that was also jumping in the distance. We stayed with them a bit but when time ran out headed back to harbour. On the way back we saw another small pod of 5 harbour porpoises!

- Anna Richter 

Report from Hafsulan: We sailed out under the sun tonight with a breeze coming from the north. We had to sail for quite a while before spotting any marine widlife. Then on our right in the direction of Snæfellsjökull we saw a big blow go off 3 times. As we headed towards it we didn't see this animal come up again but we did start to see big splashes coming from ahead. They were from a pod of 6 feeding white beaked dolphins. They came very close whilst jumping and even started to bow ride. We got to spend lots of time with this fantastic pod. We then decided to leave them alone and saw another blow. It was the same as the first time and came from a shy elusive animal. But we then headed home with a beautiful sunset following our lovely dolphin sighting.

- Rob the rob