TUESDAY, 7 JUNE 2016

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: What fantastic conditions for whale watching – turquoise seas with barely a cloud in sight. We had been going around 45 minutes when we first saw our first minke whale, which was followed up by at least 3 more sightings within a 1 km radius of the boat. These minkes were quite distant and behaving elusively so we decided to follow up on some large splashes about 2 km on the horizon in the direction of Akranes. Just as we’d hoped, these were a pod of ~10 highly playful white-beaked dolphins - we even observed a juvenile jump almost directly on top of an adult and then turn belly-up next to it and do some inverted tail slapping! As other boats approached these guys quietened down a little, so we decided to leave them after 20 minutes and instead pursue a big flock of birds several kms away in the hope that it was a good indicator of food and larger species. Just as we’d hoped, we saw 3 big blows around the flock; however, to our great surprise, this was yet another minke whale - what unusual conditions it was to see the blow so clearly! Just as we were thinking of turning back we saw some more large splashes nearby which we presumed to be the white-beaked dolphins again; however as we got nearer we noticed one particularly big splashing. Lo and behold, in amongst the dolphins, was a tail-slapping humpback whale! This sub-adult seemed to be having a whale of a time, as after tail slapping and lobbing > 10 times it also performed three breaches, all of them nearly clearing the water and rotating to show off its humungous flippers. Although we couldn’t stay with this individual long, we ended the trip on a real high after such an exceptional encounter, with the gorgeous Icelandic sunset to our back on the sail home. 

- Ophelie

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: We sailed out in beautiful weather, it was warm and sunny and the sea was calm. It got a little windy once we left the harbour but it stayed warm enough that we could even go without the overalls. When we had sailed for about 45 minutes we spotted a minke whale in front of us so we slowed down and sure enough, there were four minke whales in the area surfacing all around us. They all just came up once or twice and then went straight back down and stayed under for a while. We tried to keep up but they were staying under for a long time and we had heard about some dolphins further out so we decided to leave the minkes to it and go further out, Soon we spotted a pod of four white-beaked dolphins that were travelling slowly and changing directions a lot so they were probably feeding. One of them even turned out to be a calf. Then we spotted some splashes about 500 m away but we could'nt make out what was causing these splashes and when we went to investigate we couldn't find the culprit but spotted three more minke whales much further out towards the town Akranes. We stayed a while but like the other minkes we spotted, these seemed to be quite shy. When we were looking for them we spotted more white-beaked dolphins but this time there were about twelve of them. They were absolutely amazing, the sea was so clear that we could see them under the surface and they were swimming towards us and then the group split and they swam alongside either side of the boat, it seemed almost like they wanted their pictures taken. We even caught a glimpse of a humpback whale in the area but thay only surfaced once. A great encounter with sunshine, a lot of white-beaked dolphins and minke whales and even a glimpse of a humpback.

-Bryndís Ösp Birgisdóttir

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: Just 30 minutes after we sailed from the harbour, we spotted first minke whale, about 50 meters from our boat. We were enjoing in its' company about 20 minutes after which we spotted another minke whale and decided to check that animal too. Just as we started heading towards the other minke whale, a harbour porpoise surfaced ahead of us, but it was travelling pretty fast so, after 2 surfacing, we lost the sight of it. Beautifully calm sea and excellent visibility enabled us to spot the third minke whale a bit further away. Soon we saw few big flocks of sea birds feeding so we decided to check them out. As we were approaching one of this big flocks, we encountered a group of 3 white-beaked dolphins. They were travelling slowly around us, and afterward, milling just in front of us so we had a great opportunity to see their white pattern and white beak up-close, just 10-15 meters from our boat! As we started to go a bit further out at the sea, we spotted another big flock of birds and very soon the second group of 2-3 white-beaked dolphins, about 100 meters away and the third one a bit further in the distance.

- Tena

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: It was a lovely sunny day with a beautiful flat sea, it was fine sailing and as it was so calm were were able to spot our first species rather quickly. A pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins surfaced and played around the boat, coming just a few meters away. After some wonderful surface sequences it was time to move on further out into the bay. A minke whale then surfaced a few hundred meters from the boat and then another and another! So we had three minke whales within a few hundred meters. When one surfaced only 30 meters away we were even able to see its pointed rostrum! We observed these animals surface a fair few times before moving off in search of some other animals. A blow was spotted a few hundred meters in the distance followed by a great black back. In closer proximity it was easy to identify this animal as a humpback whale, which may have been resting as it came to the surface took a breath and then submerged itself. It did this a few times then finally brought up its big patterned fluke and went for a deeper dive. It was then time to head for home but the whale watching didn´t end there 4-5 minke whales were spotted, out in the distance which surfaced multiple times. It was a fine sail back to harbour in the wonderful Icelandic sun! 

-Tess Hudson

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: From the very beginning of this tour, it was obvious that this day was going to be amazing. We were blessed with incredible weather. Sun was shining upon us, there was no wind to get us cold, and the sea was displaying an enticing jade green colour. Under such circumstances, it's no wonder that we sighted our first cetaceans quickly after leaving the harbour. We came across a pod of 6-8 harbour porpoises. Famous for being quick and shy, those animals allowed us to have nice looks at their tiny bodies, so this was a surprisingly good beginning for this tour. Shortly after, we saw 4 minkes whales majestically surfacing all around us. They were not the most easy whales to follow, but we could still steal some satisfying glimpses close to the boats. As we were scanning further the area, we met about 4-6 more minke whales and another relaxed pod of 8-10 harbour porpoises, but we peaked by spotting 3 different pods of white-beaked dolphins. Overall we witnessed over 30 different dolphins surfacing in the area, and some of them were proudly jumping and leaping out of the water. At some point we were sourrounded by water splashes ! We did our best to be able to show those acrobatic and energetic performances to our passenger, and when the cetaceans began to move again, we decided to leave them alone and to settle for a smooth sailing to back home.

- Guillaume Calcagni

Bird species seen on todays tours; northern fulmar, atlantic puffin, black-backed gull, kittiwake, arctic tern, arctic skua, eider duck, common guillemot, bridled guillemot & razorbill.

Status: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik on another gorgeous day. There is little to no wind and the sea is calm. Hope you are able to join us to see these amazing giants in their natural environment