Tour status: RUNNING
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: We sailed out of Reykjavik under a partly cloudy but sunny sky, with light wind. After about 40 minutes of sailing we had a brief encounter with a pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins, but we kept heading out, as we spotted activity in the distance. Soon enough, we came across our first minke whale! Shortly after, we spotted at least two more individuals, all in the same area, as well as a few harbour porpoises! The minkes were all around us, but they were sometimes elusive and difficult to see. As we sailed back, we found a second pod of at least 5 dolphins, nd we had the chance stay a few minutes with them, as they swam around, sometimes diving under the boat. Overall an enjoyable tour in beautiful weather!
-Anne Moullier
Tour at 14:00
Report from Eldey: We did not sailed in the same area than this morning for the afternoon, and how right we were to do so! We ended up seeing at least 5 minke whales! One stopped us in our tracks, and while following it we noticed two others feeding at the sea surface further away. We ended up having the two of them feeding on each side of the boat, while our engine was turned off. The best kind of whale watching! After half an hour, we began to sail again, and once more 2 minkes stopped us, and one of them turned out to be Humpie, our beloved friend that visits regularly since 2011! It's always nice to see old faces, and to see photoidentification efforts paying off. The tour ended on a bright sunshine, and with smiles on many faces.
- Guillaume Calcagni
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: Sailed out from Reykjavík in great whale watching weather, almost no waves and only a slight breeze of wind. Its safe to say it was all about whales today, as we spotted 8 minke whales on the tour! Some of them came incredibly close and the good weather conditions allowed us to follow them swimming under the water surface near the boat. We also had the pleasure of seeing a pod of 5 white beaked dolphins and 2-3 harbour porpoises. The minke whales defiantly stole the show, and it was great to see so many and to see them so close!
- Mia Rasmussen
Tour at 10:00
Report from Hafsulan: We followed the steps of Eldey and dashed on a flat sea to join an are where wildlife has been INCREDIBLE! We spent over one hour with an incredible pod of a dozen of white-beaked dolphins that were socializing all around! They were sticking close to each others in constant touches, and eventually some of them came toward them and stayed with us. It was an unbelievable sight, they were swimming underneath the boat but at a slow pace, and sometime they were just hanging out next to us! It is quite possible that the calm sea made it easier for them to see us so they took their time to have a look, and the opposite was true as well! And the icing on the cake was two minke whales that were surfacing in the same area. On the way home we found another pod of 6 dolphins. It hardly get better than this!
- Guillaume Calcagni
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: We left Reykjavik in the fog this morning, but the sea was almost perfectly flat. After about 45 minutes of sailing out of the harbour, we found a pod of at lest 5 jumping white beaked dolphins. We stayed with the dolphins for a while, before moving on to another area where we encountered another pod of 4-6 individuals. Among them, a minke whale shyly made an appearance. The dolphins followed us for a little while, swimming around and under the boat very close to us. Further away, another minke quickly surfaced a couple of times before going for a deeper dive. On our way back, a pod of 3 harbour porpoises appeared in front of us. Although our 2 minkes were elusive today, this incredible experience with the dolphins more than made up for it!
- Anne Moullier
Bird species seen on today's tours include: northern gannet, Atlantic puffin, northern fulmar, arctic tern, razorbill, common guillemot, eider duck, arctic skua, black legged kittiwake.
We are sailing from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík today, conditions at sea are favorable but there could always be some movement on the boat, and we do have sea sickness tablets at the ticket office free of charge. For more information you can contact us by email elding@elding.is or by phone +354 519 5000
