Tour at 20:30
Dear diary. In beautiful weather we heated out to Faxaflói bay on this sunset tour. It took us some time to find the first whale. A group of Harbour porpoises crossed our path. They were a little bit shy but we followed them for a short time. And we searched some more. Suddenly, one of our passengers pointed out, thought he saw a big whale, and he was right, it was a Minke Whale. It surfaced many times, and came quite close to the boat so all our 16 passengers could have a good look at the animal. It was a rather big whale, 8-9 m. and seemed to be very relaxed as it was feeding in the aria. So, group of Harbour porpoises, one Minke Whale and on top of that unforgettable sunset.
Tour at 17:00
We started at Akurey (Puffin Island) and again there were many Puffins sitting on the water’s surface. Then heading out into Akurey I got radioed by the Captain "get up here, look 12 o´clock" Yes we found the Humpback Whale once again, even though is wasn´t hard to miss as it was breaching, tail slapping, flipper slapping so big splashes in the distance. It took us maybe 15-20 minutes to get to where the Humpback Whale was but by that time it had stopped causing splashes. We watching for about an 1 hour just surfacing nicely a couple of times then going for a deep dive. We held our breath hoping it would bring the tail up but alas it never did. It did tail slap once quite close to us though which was really great and unexpected. There were a couple of Minke Whales in this area too but of course everyone was more interested in the Humpback Whale. After leaving the Humpback we went looking for other species and came across some flocks of feeding seabirds and there were the Harbour Porpoises and a Minke Whale which both seemed too occupied in catching fish than entertaining but it was nice to see them nonetheless. Amazing Tour, Like WOW!!!
Tour at 13:00
It was raining a bit for this tour but luckily not for long but the sea was lovely and calm. We headed straight out into Faxaflói and it wasn´t long before we came across a large pod of feeding White-beaked Dolphins. They were surfacing fast and always changing direction which makes it look like they were following fish. There was also two adults with a very small calf (baby) which was amazing to see but from a distance so we wouldn´t distress the mothers. We then headed further offshore and saw a small pod of Harbour Porpoises. Then a Minke Whale was seen in the distance so we headed towards that. It was a really nice Minke as it surfaced many times, because it was in such a great whale watching mood we stayed with this Minke for quite a while but then other boats started to arrive and we didn´t want to crowded for the whale so we headed further still offshore and soon came across another Minke Whale. We saw it surface many times then it went for a deep dive and surfaced only 5 meters from our boat. It was absolutely amazing. It stayed around our boat for a little while surfacing a couple of times but you could see it very clearly under the water’s surface and on one occasion it rolled over just before travelling under the boat just 1 or 2 meters from us. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING MINKE WHALE!!! It then headed away and so did we. We ended the tour by visiting Akurey (Puffin Island) and saw many Puffins. FANTASTIC!!
Tour at 09:00
Dear diary. The morning tour was absolutely fantastic. In the beginning we spotted a small group of Harbour porpoises which surfaced many times. Then a Minke Whale showed up in the distance. We tried to approach the whale slowly and it worked this time. The whale actually swam around our boat so all our passengers could have a good look at it many times. Perfect whale. Then we headed to the puffin island Akurey, there were a lot of Puffins close sitting on the water and also on the island. But on our way back to the harbour just 15 minutes away, suddenly the captain spotted a big blow. What a surprise. A HUMPBACK Whale. Váááááá and so close to land. But unfortunately the time was out so we did not have so much time to watch the Humpback. What an ending on a very successful trip. There were also a lot of birds out in the bay, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Puffins, Fulmars, an Arctic skua, and Arctic terns.