Tuesday, 24 June 2024

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

Report from Eldey: The morning was overcast but the waters were extremely calm as we headed into the bay. Not so long after the beginning of the tour we spotted our first humpback whale. But this one was surrounded by boats so we decided to move on as we knew we had more animals in the area and we did not want to overcrowd the whales. As we headed toward another spot we caught a glimpse of a very fast minke whale, that was seen mostly by the crew only once. We then made it to an area were we had 2 humpback whales next to us, and one of them was our beloved Davy Jones. Davy surfaced by surprise right by our vessel and looked at us curiously before it slowly passed underneath the boat to get to the other side. We could observe these 2 individuals and their nice fluke dives for a while for both individuals. Then another minke appeared slowly and sneakily in the area. There were more blows of whales all around this area, we were surrounded. For a moment we even had a minke whale and a humpback whale surfacing close by. It was amazing to be able to see these animals together so close, something we barely see. After that on our way back we found another humpback whale and a pod of 3 to 5 white beaked dolphins. After a good amount of time with these dolphins, riding the wake of another boat it was time to go back to the harbour. What a lucky tour!

- Orsi Stipsicz

Report from Hafsúlan: This morning was a little cloudy although the seas were very calm as we headed out into the bay. Perfect weather for some whale watching! We did not have to go very far until we came across our first cetacean species of the day on. A big tail slap was spotted in the distance and we headed in its direction. It turned out to be three humpback whales spread out in the area around our boat!  We observed one individual more closely as it was going for some very nice fluke dives and logging on the surface just next to us. After some time in this area we decided to keep going and all of a sudden some of us spotted a minke whale surfacing next to the boat. We stopped to have a look but it did not appear again, so we kept going and came across three more humpback whales spread out in our field of view. We observed as they came up for air and continued to show its flukes for us. As it was time to head back to the harbour we all felt very content with what we had experienced. What a lovely morning with nature!

- Maja Andersson

Report from Eldey: We left the harbour in great cetacean-spotting conditions, full cloud cover, minimal wind and calm, flat waters. Shortly after, we spotted a minke whale, but continued on, as it was quite fast and we had heard there were more animals ahead. Sure enough, on our way, we spotted two other minke whales, again, travelling quite fast but giving us a good view of their tiny curved dorsal fin. Not long after, we saw a blow straight ahead, so we headed closer to investigate. On the way there we also spotted several more blows in all directions another minke whale as well, so we had quite a tough choice to make on which whale to approach. We ended up heading to a very calm, resting humpback whale in relatively close proximity to 2 others in the area. We moved on, leaving this sleepy whale to enjoy some rest, and headed towards another blow. This was actually a pair of humpbacks! They were quite curious, coming really close to our boat giving us a great view of their flukes and bright pectoral fins. As they headed for deeper dives, we moved on to yet another humpback whale in the area, once again being treated to quite a close look and multiple spectacular fluke dives! It was then time to start heading back towards the harbour, what an amazing tour, so many wonderful cetaceans sighted!

- Melanie

Report from Hafsúlan: We went out in the best conditions possible. Overcast but dry, almost no wind and the sea calm as a pond. Little did we know what was waiting for us... Out on the bay we spotted first one, than another humpback whale in the distance, so we decided to approach the animal closer to us. It was very active on the surface and feeding on little fish by blowing nice bubble nets. After a shot while a second humpback joined the feeding and we were able to observe both feeding at the same time. Also a pod of 15-20 white-beaked dolphins approached the location with a lot of high jumps and spectacular splashes on the surface. All this action was due to the mass of small fish that we were able to see under the boat as silvery shimmer in the water. More humpback whales turned up and at one point we were totally surrounded by feeding whales and  jumping dolphins. Overall we were able to see around 15-20 dolphins and at least 5 humpback whales at the same time. Even a shy minke whale turned up but also disappeared after it surfaced a few times. What a tour, it can not get much better than this. 

-  Knut Albrecht

Report from Hafsula: Whale, whale, whale, what an evening! With consistent rain we adorned our wet weather gear and headed out into the bay. We seemed to locate the buffet relatively quickly and had not one, not two, but SEVEN humpback whales! We were quite literally surrounded by humpback whales this evening. They showed us multiple cooperative feeding strategies, including bubblenet feeding with one group of three individuals and another group of two individuals. We got to see lunge feeding, rolling, tail slapping, and even two breaches! The humpbacks also got a bit curious and came to inspect the boat a few times; which allowed us a really good view of not just how big they are but also how long their pectoral fins are! Needless to say we had flukes galore as well which was spectacular. You really could not ask for more from our humpbacks. After consistent views of our humpback whales we waved them goodbye and headed back to port. A wonderful way to end the evening.

-Samantha Smith

Northern gannet, Atlantic puffin. Northern fulmar, black guillemot, black-legged kittiwake, eider duck