Wednesday, 14 May 2014

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The morning was very successful but nature showed its unpredictability in the afternoon by giving us another successful yet very different tour. While the highlight of the morning was the whales we saw in the afternoon we instead got a fantastic look at a pod of White-Beaked Dolphins! It actually took us a long time to find the dolphins, we had sailed to find the same whales that we saw in the morning but never really got to see those whales. So we carried on searching and found a different species than we thought we would. Luckily the dolphins would prove to be a very entertaining group, there were 6 dolphins and we got to have a very long look at them as they were swimming calmly around the boat. Even swimming under and around us, we could watch them swimming under the waters surface too! They were everything we could have wanted from the dolphins, they give us an interaction you would rarely come across with a species of whale.

- Jack Ball

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It was a day of contrasting Minke Whales this morning. We sailed from Reykjavík once again in our search for some whales or dolphins, and as is the normal lately we first found a pod of Harbour Porpoise. These porpoise were quite elusive but later on we found find a pod thatwe swimming beside our boat for a long time. Which is always a great surprise when watching porpoise! The first minke that we found we saw surfacing ahead of the boat several times before it dived and never came up where we could see it. This was disappointing but we would later find a much better minke, and one that we know very well. Our good friend Peanut! Peanut was feeding close to the boat and even showed off its pink belly and fluke at one point! Such a treat from a minke whale that is one of the closest friends Elding could hope for!

- Jack Ball

Birds seen on today tour include: Atlantic Puffin, Northern Gannet, Razorbill, Common Guillemot, Kittiwake, Northerm Fulmar, Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Black-Backed Gull, Eider Duck.