Wednesday, 10 August 2016

Tour at 17:00

Report from Eldey: Some wind was picking up in Faxaflói during the evening. But the sea state it wasn’t very bad, still good conditions to see some cetaceans around. We were sailing out when we could spot a minke whale very close to the harbour. The animal was traveling very fast so we could see it for a couple of times before it went for a deep dive. It stayed for a while so we decided to keep going and try to look for something else. In the way out another minke whale showed up just few times. The animal was traveling towards Reykjavik. We could see it very briefly. However the highlight of the tour was a humpback whale. Another whale watching boat spotted the animal so we joined to take a closer look. While we were approaching the area the animal just jumped out of the water making a full breach. Even we were still a bit far we could see the whole body out and the big splash afterwards. Once we got to the place we could see the humpback surfacing breathing very fast. Later one it rolled at the surface just for few seconds so we could see from the distance. We came back a bit later than expected to the port, but it was completely worth it just to see how beautiful the wildlife of the Bay was.

- Alejandro García

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: On this tour Faxa Bay threw at us a grim reminder that whale watching success can change in a matter of hours. After such a successful tour at 10:00, wind had strengthened and sea conditions got worse. We were relatively spared by the swells and the cold, but there was few white caps on the water surface, which doesn't help for spotting cetaceans. Also, the wind was strong enough to have potentially scattered the blow of whales that could have been in our vicinity. In shorter terms, not the best whale watching conditions. And the bay seemed to be empty of animals, except for few scarce (but nice) sea birds. Maybe cetaceans just won the hiding game today. Anyway, saddened to not have been able to show those wonderful creatures to our passengers, we offered complimentary tickets to everybody willing to have a second chance. Sometime, you just have to keep on trying !

- Guillaume Calcagni

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: Unfortunately, our passengers haven't seen any cetaceans on this tour :( Although some of the crew members saw few individuals of different cetacean species from the distance, we didn't see any signs of animals when we would approach the area. We offered complimentary tickets to our passengers, in hope they will join us on some other (more successful) tour.

-Tena Sarcevic 

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: It was calmer than expected with the wind blowing this morning. We had good conditions for spotting wildlife with a cloudy sky and small swell. Soon after we set off we got news from other boats about 2 humpback whales that were seen far out on the bay. We sailed straight to that area in hope to get a glimpse of them. We saw both individuals but one of them stole the show with constant tail slapping and tail lobbing! It was difficult to leave the area with such incredible behaviour! On the way back we saw 2 pods of 4-5 harbour porpoises, they were difficult to spot so only few passengers got a look at these small and cute cetacean species.

-Sigurlaug Sigurðardóttir

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: We set sail on a cloudy but otherwise fair day, there was a little swell but not too noticeable. Only after a short sail a small pod of 2-3 harbour porpoises were spotted coming up alongside the boat. We were able to spot these delightful animals surface a few times before continuing further into the bay. A minke whale then surfaced only 100 meters away coming up in a wonderful surface sequence. This animal came up multiple times, often changing direction. After watching this animal for some time it was decided that we should continue further out into the bay as a crowd of boats had begun to form around this individual. Sailing into the bay for only a few more minutes a very large splash was observed towards the cone shaped mountain Keilir, a few kilometers in the distance. On the way to this individual a pod of 5-6 white-beaked dolphins popped up right in front of us! So we slowed down and stopped to watch these beautiful animals surface all around the boat, surfacing multiple times and allowing everyone a good look at them. After some time we continued on our way to the area where we saw the splash when suddenly we saw another large splash to our port side, after waiting for this animal to surface it was identified as a humpback whale. This animal surfaced only 30 meters away from us and we could see it swimming under the waters surface. It then swam about 100 meters away and began tail lobbing numerous times! Quite a feat for such a large animal! As we observed this individual the area became more and more crowded with whale watching vessels so we decided once again to move off in search of something else. But we did not have to wait long as another humpback whale surfaced only 600 meters away and also began tail lobbing (the individual we believe the spash came from earlier). It was such a fantastic experience to watch these large majestic animals twisting and turning so fluidly through the air like that. After a wonderful tour with many happy faces we headed home in high humour.   

- Tess Hudson

Bird species seen on todays tour: black-legged kittiwake, northern gannet, arctic tern, arctic skua, atlantic puffin, northern fulmar, lesser black-backed gull, manx shearwater, common guillemot. 

Status: RUNNING

We are sailing out from the old harbor in Reykjavík today. The sea is a little choppy and the wind is blowing from the east so make sure to use our overalls on board free of charge. Hopefully you will be able to join us today to see these magnificent giants !