Tour at 20:30
Report from Elding: This has to be one of my favourite tours this summer. It started out like a very challenging tour. The sea was almost mirror flat, but there was also almost no life in sight. I started to lose hope when our captain informed me there was a minke whale in front of us. It turned out to be that we had 2 minke whales that were very relaxed and surfaced multiple times very close in front of us. Now, the amazing thing about this tour was the timing of the sighting and the spectacular light of the sunset. The Snæfellsnes glacier and the sea were lighted up in undescribably beautiful red and orange coulors. Together with the close encounters we had with the two minke whales, this is certainly a tour to remember.
-Lucas Heinrich
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: The rain prevailed for the first part of the trip, but later on the clouds dissipated a bit and the sun popped up. Not to long after we left the harbor some passenger were lucky enough to spot some fast and illusive harbor porpoises that surfaced quickly and disappeared right afterwards. This is the most frequent behavior of the species, reason why we never stop the boat, for they are very small and conspicuous and hard to track. We kept scanning the area continuously and later on we encounter an humpback whale performing pec slapping. We observed this animal for a while and then we moved in search for some more. Shortly after we sighted a minke whale in an area paced with bird activity. It was possible to fallow it for some time and enjoy it as it was most likely foraging. Before starting heading back to the harbor, it was still possible to have a glimpse of a pod of 4 or 5 white-beaked dolphins.
- Ines Cunha
Tour at 14:00
Report from Hafsulan: We left under the rain and fog this afternoon, but the weather quickly cleared up as we approached our main sighting ground of the day. Soon enough, we started seeing minke whale after minke whale, all circling around the boat: There were easily 15-20 of them, a very rare sight for this species with more solitary tendencies! Some of them started spy-hopping and rolling, behaviours not frequently seen on minkes during our tours. While we stayed with minkes, two humpback whales also appeared, a bit further away. We were able to spend some time with them as they surfaced several times, closer to the boat, their blows always making it easy to keep track of them as they moved around us. As we continued on, we also came across a pod of at least 9 white-beaked dolphins, that also interacted with the boat for a while. An unforgetable afternoon out at sea!
-Anne Moullier
Tour at 10:00
Report form Hafsúlan: We sailed out of the harbour again in hopes of good sightings and good weather. It took us the more less usual 1 hour to get to the interesting area. And it Was interesting. There were about 7 minke whales around us, and we were happy to have them there. Actually, the bay was full of life and besides the numerous flocks of birds we had a sudden visit of 3 white-beaked dolphins playing incredibly close to the haul of the boat. Next we saw a humpback whale that our researcher identified as "Pi". Pi was, like the rest of the animals, very busy feeding. But we managed to see the back of this marvelous animal a couple of times before we had to turn back to the harbour.
-Lucas Heinrich
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: A little windy but comfortable tour. With over 200 passengers booked we took two boats for our 9am departure. No matter the number we always accomodate. It was raining in Reykjavik but nice and dry out in the bay. The wildlife was very impressive, all in all a pod of 5-7 white-beaked dolphins bow riding and enjoying our company. 3 humpback whales very far apart, one was the best; breaching, flipper slapping and tail slapping and at least 3 minke whales lunge feeding under large flocks of birds and surfacing everywhere. An incredible morning to be on the bay.
- Megan Whittaker
Bird species seen on today's tours: northern fulmar, northern gannet, Atlantic puffin, Arctic skua, Arctic tern, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, black-legged kittiwake, common guillemot, black guillemot, manx shearwater
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