Wednesday, 01 July 2015

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: Smooth sailing all evening made for a relaxing journey. Of course the whales and dolphins were in full force as well this evening! It took some time to find them, around 50 minutes of sailing before we saw in the distance a sign of white-beaked dolphins moving quickly and making splashes as they did. When we found them they were a pod of 6 dolphins that we travelled with for around 10-15 minutes. They led us to our first minke whale which we followed to an area with many feeding birds and more feeding minke whales. There were at least 5 minke whales in sight during an encounter where we were able to switch off the engine for 30 minutes and let nature happen all around us. It was a perfect way to spend the evening and it ended with another pod of 4 dolphins travelling beside us for the last part of the tour.

- Jack Ball

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: Márfló provided us once again with a lot of wildlife. At least 5-6 minke whales were feeding in the area together with a small pod of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins. The birdlife had decreased in intensity since the morning and afternoon but we could still see large flocks of gannets, lesser black-backed gulls and arctic tern. European storm petrels has started to arrive the last couple of days, a species you rarely see from land. This trip started however with a pod of 6-7 white-beaked dolphins after only 30 minutes of sailing. Sadly a speed-boat from the maritime safety boat totally destroyed this encounter. The boat went with full speed over the pod of dolphins several times, clearly on purpose. The poor dolphins started fleeing in all directions and the pod got scattered. So sad to see from a boat that is suppose to know better! On our way back we saw 2 more minke whales and another pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins that even swam underneath our boat.

- Marcus Bergström   

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: We decided to head out to where we heard reports of minke whales but unfortunately they had vacated the area. We then headed towards the area where we had spotted the feeding humpback in case it was still in a good mood. On our way there we were greeted by a 8-10 individual pod of harbour porpoises that came to the front and right side of our boat. We stopped for a second in case the porpoises were feeling adventurous but they continued on towards the harbour. When we reached the area we were heading for, the humpback whale was still there feeding a lot. A sneaky minke whale swam up to us and came up once really close to our boat before disappearing along with the humpback. We eventually had to turn our boat back towards harbour and leave all the diving birds, minke and humpback whales behind so we would get to harbour at a decent time. On our way back a pod of white beaked dolphins, with 4 individuals in it, swam towards and around our boat so we slowed down until the dolphins had their fill of human-watching and headed off somewhere westwards. An amazing day with all 4 most of the spotted species found in one tour!

- Svala Jónsdóttir

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: On our second tour of this day we went straight to the area where we had several encounters during the morning trip. While heading out, we spotted several minke whales traveling east. We stopped for two of these animals, trying to get a better look at them. These mammals seemed rather elusive, this is why we moved on, looking for other individuals. Our search was cut short by 1-2 white- beaked dolphins. This short encounter was interrupted by big splashes as well as blows in the distance. It turned out to be a humpback whale! Already late, we still decided to follow this animal for a while anyway. This decision was rewarded by another minke whale surfacing close to the left side of our boat. Just before we had to turn back to go home, the humpback whale gave us waving goodbye with it's fluke while it was going for another dive.

- Michaela Buchbauer

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: We headed out in sunshine and warm winds when we heard there was a humpback whale close to the harbour. We headed there but by the time we came to the area that humpback had had enough of whale watching and was heading out of the bay at quite some speed. We decided to try our luck elswere after catching a couple of blows from it and headed to where Hafsúlan had spotted a humpback earlyer on. That humpabck was still in the area. It was feeding a lot at the surface and when it went down the birds followed it so this was a very easy humpback for us to follow. It gave us a good pec-slap (a slap on the ocean surface with a pectoral fin) and one glipse at the under side of its fluke (tail). Even the hail on the way back to harbour couldn't hold back the happyness from everyone on board after spotting two humpbacks in one trip and seeing the gannets bomb diving all around us!

- Svala Jónsdóttir

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The weather this morning was very dull with a cloudy sky and some mist. Luckily the rain stayed away and the swells weren't to bad. Only after about half an hour of sailing the first cetaceans showed themselves. A pod of 5-6 white-beaked dolphins was slowly traveling close to the surface. Enable us for some great views. At the same time we also observed our first minke whale of the tour. We then headed for Márfló that was full of life on the midnight tour yesterday. It proved to be holding on and we could see big flocks of feeding birds and with them a humpback whale! Also here we could see 1-2 minke whales. We then tried to find harbour porpoises so this would be a four species tour because we still haven't´t seen that species. But we take the four species tour the next time!    

- Marcus Bergström

Birds spotted on todays tours: Gannets, Fulmars, Greater and Lesser Black-backed gulls, Kittiwakes, Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Puffin, Arctic Tern, European Storm Petrel, Razorbill, Common Guillemots, Manx Shearwater.