Tuesday 26 April 2022

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00 and 14:00 Premium Whale tours and on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 09:00 and 13:00 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
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00

 COVID-19: Keep in mind that passengers and crew are asked to ensure their own hygiene and safety at all times. Washing hands thoroughly with soap and using a hand sanitiser is advised.

Report from Eldey: What an i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e tour we have had today! I would call it a harbour porpoise tour! We had amazing whale watching conditions, no wind, no swell, perfect visibility. We were just leaving the habour and we spotted some little black backs. There were habour porpoises. And what made this encounter so unique was that there were more than 40 individuals in total! Some of them were very curious and even human watched us! Witnessing this amazing species so close and so many is something that happens very rarely. We couldn't be more happy and enthusiastic with this sighting. After enjoying those amazing creatures, we sailed out trying to see more species around even though we were enormously compensate for the whole tour. Anyway, we saw a massive black back, and as soon as we got closer we saw a humpback whale. It was swimming softly in a quiet and relaxed way. We slowed down, switched off the engines and to wait for the animal to come up again, to see how it would react. Interestingly, it swam doing a circle around us. Minutes later we were able to see another humpback whale also swimming peacefully. We could even admire its huge 5 meter pectoral fins visible from the surface. We waited a few minutes and then also saw this animal going for a dive. But when it resurfaced, we saw it twice coming towards us not even 100 m away. It swam underneath us and popped up again right behind the boat, maybe 5 m away. After this very close encounter, we headed back to the harbour with the sun and smiles in our faces.

- Estel Sanchez Cami
 

Report from the Ribs: Another day and again almost faultless conditions. Perfectly calm seas created by the lack of wind provided an excellent environment for wildlife spotting. The tour played out in a similar fashion to the yesterday with the abundance and variety of species remaining high. In total three species were seen beginning with the harbour porpoises. The small cetaceans seen surfacing in all manner of directions and distances throughout our time in the bay. On special occasions when our engines were idle they would approach boldly, coming within a few metres at our stern. Next one minke whale surfaced gracefully moving from the right to left at the bow. We watched the minke take a few audible breaths before it arched its back high for the dive. We then journeyed towards an area where other whale watching boats were scattered as two to three humpback whales were seen feeding and resting. The first whale provided an exciting encounter as it slowly moved alongside our vessel from a close range and flashed its fluke upon diving. After a little time we headed to another humpback whale that appeared busy feeding towards the sea bed. It came often for a single breath before disappearing but remained at a very close proximity. 

- Mike Smith

Report from Elding: Sailing into the beautiful calm bay, we quickly came across a pod of harbour porpoises. They were tricky to spot, disappearing after only a few surfaces, but we had plenty of porpoise encounters during the rest of the tour to make up for it: there were probably around 50 individuals in small pods spread out over the bay. A bit further out, we saw the dark back and high dorsal fin of a minke whale. The minke surfaced a few times, but when it started travelling away from us we decided to explore different areas. A few minutes later we already had the next sighting of a humpback whale! The whale didn’t show us the fluke but came up very close to the boat so was very fun to observe. When more boats arrived we wanted to give the whale some more space so we checked out lots more harbour porpoises, puffins, and suddenly we saw two blows in the distance, two more humpback whales were swimming together! Being alone with these two whales with the boat engine off was such a peaceful and memorable moment, and it was incredible to see the fluke of one of the whales several times. After a while we started to head home to Reykjavik, on the way still encountering many harbour porpoises. Among one pod of porpoises we saw something a lot bigger: there was the fourth humpback whale of the tour. The bright white ‘angel wings’ of the whale allowed us to track its movement as it swam closely under the water surface, but our feelings went from excitement to sadness when we saw that the whale was entangled in a long, thick rope. Everyone has probably read about the many threats that cetaceans across the world are facing, but to see firsthand such a beautiful animal suffering from man-made causes is heartbreaking and shows how important it is that we protect them and keep the oceans healthy.

- Eline van Aalderink 

Report from the Ribs: Again, much of the same condition wise, if anything it may have been a smoother ride as the boat glided over the waveless water. The species seen were the same as in the morning and in the same order. We journeyed south towards the areas our encounters took place in the morning and were greeted to the sight of many harbour porpoises. The porpoises were a constant sight on this tour and when we stopped, they came to investigate. The most curious individual swam at our bow and remained clearly visible, flashing the white of the belly as it took a sharp turn. The minke also proved very pleasing viewing. The individual completed a surface sequence with its side profile visible which showed its size nicely. Then we journeyed a little further south where roughly 5 or 6 humpback whales were believed to be spread throughout the area. We watched many of the whales, being mindful of our time with each individual and to see some different behaviours. One whale seemed shy to lift the fluke, whilst others proudly displayed theirs when diving. Our last encounter was the most memorable as we placed ourselves in a spot we believed would be best to wait for the humpback to resurface and were pleasantly surprised when it rose up within 10 metres of our starboard side. The whale swam out of sight to repeat on the port. 

- Mike Smith

Eider duck, northern gannet, northern fulmar, atlantic puffin, common guillemot, black guillemot, herring gull, greater black-backed gull, glaucous gull, black-legged kitiwake, black-headed gull