Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: The tour started with a little bit (quite a bit, actually!) of swell, as a shy example of the strong gale that will be beating us during all day tomorrow. We went really far away in this tour, just trying to spot the minkes and white beaked dolphins that we spotted in both previous tours. After ninety minutes of search we finally spotted the first cetacean, a really tricky minke whale that was only spotted a couple of times for the crew and a few lucky passengers. Almost right in the same spot we gaze two different pods of 3-4 harbour porpoises that, as well, looked like were on a mission. Although the wind was calming down and the spotting conditions were sincerely nice it didn't work with the cetaceans in this trip. All our passengers got some complementary tickets that they will be able to enjoy within the next two years.
- Alberto Alejandro
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: The sea conditions did not improve a lot compared to the morning tour but the spotting conditions were still pretty good. This time it was the other boats first spotting a group of white-beaked dolphins. It was quite a few individuals, at least 8 with 4 more a bit further away. The dolphins were very interested in approaching us and we had them going in all directions in front of us giving us some awesome opportunities for pictures. Some of the dolphins headed off after a while and we followed the smaller group of 4 individuals for a while longer. They disappeared as well and so we moved on further out in the bay. For some time we only got to see more and more birds that were abundant on this tour and many of them seemed to be feeding. And finally, it was close to some feeding birds, a minke whale suddenly surfaced quickly before vanishing under water again. We waited a few moments and then it came up a few more times before going for a dive again. As we were already running late, we started our way back to the harbour with a quick glimpse at a harbour porpoise along the way. A really nice tour despite the conditions, with the amazing cetaceans of our bay delighting us once more!
- Hanna Michel
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: The sea conditions were not as nice as yesterday. The wind from the west had build up a bit of swell in the bay that made the tour quite rocky at times, especially on the way out. On our search for whales and dolphins we were accompanied by more or less constant light rain but we did not let it affect our good mood and optimism for the tour.
Similar to many our tours, patience was the key again and we had to search for a long time but then we were rewarded with a minke whale that we spotted in a couple of hundred meters distance. It went for a dive and we had to wait another while but then we saw it 3 times coming to the surface straight ahead of us and gave everyone onboard the chance to get a look. It would have been nice to get a better look but we were running out of time and even though we waited for the minke another time we had to leave it at some point. However, on our way back we got news from another boat that was in front of us on their way back to the harbour that they had seen some dolphins along the way. We tried to spot them and managed to follow them for a while after we had found and approached them. It was a group of 3 white-beaked dolphins and they were traveling along our boat so everyone could enjoy them. Due to the "dolphin detour" we were pretty late back in the harbour but everyone agreed that the dolphins were worth the delay!
- Hanna Michel
Bird species seen on today's tours include: northern gannet, northern fulmar, lesser black-backed gull, kittiwake, common guillemot, Atlantic puffin, eider duck and arctic skua.
Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik today. There is little to no wind but there could be some movement on the boat out on Faxabay. Hope you are able to join us on our Whale Watching tours today.
