Tuesday 31 May 2022

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 12:00 and 14:00 Premium Whale tour 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
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 12:00
• 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 Hafsulan: another foggy morning in Faxafloi bay, with low clouds and visibility that was greatly reduced when we were the furthest from the harbour - with minimums of 50 metres of visibility. Nevertheless, we were able to spot and observe (albeit for a short time) some whales right away: pods of harbour porpoises visited us during two instances, and they were escorted by scattered birds, which appeared to be feeding at the surface of the water. The bay seemed to be plentiful of food for animals of all sizes, just like the day before. After some time, while we sailed into the fog and a slight drizzle, we spotted our friend, an humpback whale that was particularly calm and curious during the trips in the previous day. It proved again to be of the same temper, at times coming really close to the ship, pointing the snout out of the water and forming small bubble trails. It appeared to be resting, not feeding like the day before. After a while we started to sail back to Reykjavik, but on our way back we spotted another humpback whale. This looked like it was resting as well, but taking deeper dives than the other one, arching its back much more often. But we got to see some interesting and particular behaviour, as it also did some pectoral fin waving out of the water together with some waving of the fluke.

Report from the Ribs: Beautifully calm seas awaited us this morning, with little to no wind present in the morning. The only downside in terms of the weather was a slight mist than made for a wet tour. We headed out into the bay after a short pause at Engey to view the Atlantic puffin, where we made our way towards the underwater lava as this site has proven to be a reliable cetacean hot spot. Stopping besides large groups of feeding birds, we eventully came by a small humpback whale that began by swimming gently in the still surface layers. After five minutes, the whale switched to a more energetic behaviour, lobtailing for some time. On a couple of instances the whale dove, lifting the fluke tall.

- Mike Smith

Report from Ribs: Today we went out with heavy dense clouds around us but with no rain or wind leaving the sea a very smooth like a mirror, perfect conditions to spot animals. We started our tour at Engey to see some puffins. There were not many of them present on the island or on the water, but everyone was happy to see them. Afterwards we headed off to the last known location where the Humpbacks were, but as we reached there we encountered some flocks of birds but no animals. We headed West a bit more and spotted two different groups of white-beaked dolphins. The first group had around 6 or 7 individuals but unfortunately they were not in a very good mood so we left them alone. The second group had roughly the same amount of individuals as the other group but they came closer to the boat but lost interest after a while. We continued to move West and after some time we spotted a blow in the distance. In the end we were twelve miles from Reykjavík, where we found a humpback whale feeding. It would dive for about  3mins and would come up again to breath three to four times. There was a lot of fish where we were so the whale was very calm and relaxed, it came very close to the boat a few times and the passengers really enjoyed the experience. Since we were the only boat in the area we lingered a bit more with the boat engines off to enjoy the the whale and managed to see its pectoral fins under the water and experience its unique breath smell. After a while we were running out of time so we went back to the harbor with a lot of smiley faces.

- Francisco Pires

Report From Hafsulan: With high hopes and prepared for all weather conditions we set sail today. The sea started off quite smooth and we were soon met by harbour porpoises. We saw 6-7 individuals around the boat on both sides, their dorsal fins were easy to spot as the sea looked like silk! As we got further out the sea the harbour porpoises left us and we were greeted by a pod of white beaked dolphins soon after! We saw 5-6 individuals with a calf. It was a relaxed pod that enjoyed our attention for a bit before moving on. Then, in the distance - a blow! We try to find the individual responsible and find a humpback whale! It was a very relaxed individual that came quite close to the boat. It swam all the way around the boat, making sure everyone got a picture and then gave us a beautiful send off showing its fluke! We managed to elude the rain and made our way home when time was up.

- Anna Richter

Report from the Ribs: The wind strength increased as the day grew longer, stirring a small wave originating from the west. We first journeyed south in search of a whale outside of our preferred area as only one individual had been seen throughout the day and we were curious to explore. After stopping intermittently for feeding birds we reached the location of the mornings sighting where many whale watching boats were congregated. A humpback whale was seen amongst the vessels and we maintained a safe distance and watched from afar. Once some of the larger boats had left we slowly approached and were able to obtain rewarding views. The whale on one occasion lifted its tremendous tail and fluke clear of the water, returning with a thud and large splash. After, it continued swimming calmly in one direction.

- Mike Smith