Tour at 2030
Report from Hafsúlan: Good tour this evening in beautiful lighting! We saw lots of birds on Akurey as well as eider ducks and others. We started off witha feeding minke whale, probably a youngster since it was very small. After leaving the younster behind and heading further out we spotted a few more minke whales about 5 to 6 animals surfacing quite close to us and at times blowing small geysers out of their blow holes! On our way back we spotted another youngster, or it might have been the same one we had seen earlier on. That one surfaced three times for us, leaving its very clear fluke print on the surface, before we had to head home. The weather was still very good, sunshine most of the tour and great visibility, especially towards the end when we could see Snæfellsjökull glacier very clear!
Tour at 1700
Report from Hafsúlan: Also on our evening we had beautiful weather with a lot of sunshine. We sailed in our whale watching area and we spotted a blow 200 meters from the boat. We went in the direction of this blow and saw on our way some more blows. It was a minke whale and we were able to come very close to him. We could watch him several times. In this area we found in total 3 to 4 individuals and it was great to have them around the boat. In the same area also northern gannets were feeding. It was great to see how these big birds "shoot" in the water. The birds produced big splashes that sometimes looked similar to the blows of our minke whales. All in all we saw 8 to 10 minke whales on this tour and at the very end of our tour one of these guys came very close to the boat and we could see his white stomach.
Tour at 1400
Report from Skrúður: Again we started at the puffin island. Now the wind had picked up quite a bit but it was still warm and sunny as we sailed out of the harbour. After having observed the birds we started looking for whales and from there on the weather only got better, the winds got less and the sea calmer. As soon as we had arrived where Hafsúlan had been earlier, we saw a minke whale, soon after another and then they were all around like earlier this morning. Some of them came very close to the boat, one even surfaced ony 3 or 4 meters from us! We returned to Reykjavík, very happy about the awesome minke whales and the good weather!
Tour at 1300
Report from Hafsúlan: Similarly to our morning tours also our midday tour was very successfull. All in all we saw 10 to 15 minke whales. We had them all around the boat and often it was difficult to decide in which direction we should watch because two or more individuals surfaced at the same time all around the boat. The sea was still very calm and it was great to see the back of the whales even in the far distance.
Tour at 1000
Report from Skrúður: We set out in exceptionally good weather conditions. We had absolutely no wind, the sun was shining and it was very warm! We started at Akurey, the puffin island, where we saw puffins, eider ducks, gulls and other birds. After the puffin island we headed out and after about 20 minutes we spotted the first minke whale! We headed a bit further where we saw a few harbour porpoises and more minke whales. From there on we just let the boat drift, with the beautiful minke whales surfacing all around. Towards the end we spotted feeding birds and there were at least 3 more minkes feeding there aswell. Good sightings, great weather and calm seas!
Tour at 0900 Report from Hafsúlan: We started our day under perfect conditions. It was unbelievable warm (for Iceland :o)) and the sun was so warm that many passengers took a "sun bath" as we went out in the bay. It took not long until we spotted the first minke whale - but he was not alone in the bay! On the whole tour we could enjoy 10 to 15 minke whales all around the boat. Several times we had them very close to the boat and one time we could even smell the minke whale which smelled very fishy. What a nice start of the day.
Seabirds seen on todays tours include; Gannets, Puffins, Guillemots, Arctic Terns, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Arctic Skuas and Seagulls.