Tuesday, 4 September 2012

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsulan: What an incredible tour. The last couple of days have been very difficult for Elding by the fact that we haven't been able to show our passengers any whales, dolphins here and there, but no whales and the weather hasn't helped us much either, with strong winds and alot of rain. After this mornings tour with an empty bay we where losing hope a little so we tried our luck along the coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula and arn't we glad that we did because what did we see...A SEI WHALE... yes you heard us right a sei whale the third largest rorqual after the blue and fin whale growing to a staggering 21m long. This species is rarely seen on whale watching tours because they prefer offshore waters so you can imaging our surprise to find it in waters of about 40 meters deep. If that wasn't enough we even got the privilege of seeing this whale feeding. Skimming the water for copepods instead of gulping and lunging for food like other rorqual whales such as the Minke Whales. That was incredible in itself but combined with calm seas, a beautiful sunset and Fulmars and Gannets flying past it was definitely a tour to go down in history.  Whoo hoo!!

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsulan: Today was a beautiful day to be at sea albeit the seas were still a little rough after the strong winds of the previous evening. The skies were clear, visability fantastic and the wintery crisp air that feels chilly but really difficult not to love and breath in deep. We had high hopes for this tour because what doesn't come out and enjoy the sun but obviously today the whales didn't. Unfortunately this afternoons tour was unsuccessful and so we offered our passengers a complimentary ticket to come again. Lets hope the minkes whales havent decided to migrate to the south just yet.

Tour at 09:00

Unfortunately the morning tour has been cancelled due to strong winds in the bay.

Birds seen on todays tours include; Gannets, Fulmars, Seagulls, Eider Ducks

Pictures taken by Emma Wells researcher for the Faxafloi cetacean research project and Megan Whittaker