Wednesday, 17 July 2024

Today we will be operating our Classic Whale Watching on our lovely vessel Eldey at 9:00, 13:00, 17:00 and 20:30 and our just as lovely Hafsúlan at 11:00 and 15:00. Our Premium Whale Watching tour will operate on Þruma I-V at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 20:00.

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 9:00; 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00, 20:30
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 20:00

Report from Eldey: Today we set sail on a very calm day with no wind and the sea as smooth as a plate. We started exploring Faxafloi Bay and after a long while we saw many species of birds like puffins and some northen gannets, we saw 2 solitary humpback whales feeding in the area. The encounter was very nice and chill, they seemed to be in synergy with the calm sea. The humpback whales were coming out of the water slowly and repeatedly. While we were enjoying these whales, 2 more minke whales came up. WE WERE IN THE RIGHT SPOT!!! with many whales feeding in the area. These were a bit more shy but we were able to see them several times. It was very nice and exciting because we were able to see the tails of the humpback whales several times.
After a long while, we decided to leave these animals alone but suddenly another humpback whale appeared and a minke whale as well. We spent some time with these as well but decided to continue on our way. As we slowly made our way back towards the harbour, we saw a pod of 7-8 white beaked dolphins feeding in the area, we decided to stay with them for a while until we started our way back to the harbour. About 15 minutes from the harbour we saw another pod of dolphins again, this one was about 5 and we passed them by, although they passed very close to the boat and the passengers were very excited. During the tour we had a lot of sightings and we were all verY happy!!!

- Sergi Gonzalez

Report from Hafsúlan: The most perfect conditions welcomed us into the bay today. There was low wind and swell, and a very bright light creating the ideal visibility that showed even the silhouettes of the tiny harbour porpoises from a mile away. The bay was full of life today, and we reached a point were we didn´t even know where to look anymore - we were surrounded by whales! First up was a humpback whale, closely followed by a second humpback whale in the same area. Two minke whales were also coming up here and there, all of these animals probably feeding. Our focus was then drawn to the pectoral slaps of a third humpback whale. He was in the company of around 5 white-beaked dolphins, and he continuously slapped his flipper onto the water surface, giving us quite the show. After some breathtaking moments with this humpback and the dolphins, we continued to check out two humpback whales who we had seen swimming side by side at a distance. When we got there, they had separated but both came up very close to our boat. A few more minke whales popped up in the distance (5 in total during this tour), and we also got to catch a glimpse of 4 harbour porpoises on the way back to Reykjavík. What a tour filled with a diversity of life! 

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Eldey - We embarked on our whale-watching adventure with the most promising conditions: calm seas and a perfectly flat ocean, setting the stage for an ideal day of spotting marine life. As we sailed further out into the open water, the anticipation grew with every gentle ripple and distant wave. It wasn't long before the first sighting—a majestic blow of a humpback whale—captured everyone's attention. Excitement buzzed through the group as we scanned the horizon, soon realizing there were four different humpback individuals in the vicinity. We were fortunate enough to get a close look at two of these magnificent creatures. The return journey held one last surprise: a curious minke whale that approached our boat, giving us an intimate and thrilling close encounter. 

-Aleksandra Lechwar

Report from Hafsula: On our afternoon tour we sailed out with a little bit of rain as we departed the harbour but still very smooth sailing. The mountains had an earie cloud cover and the ocean was very calm with a tad more wind. After about 40min of sailing we spotted a blow in the distance - it was the same humpback whale as in the morning! Still in a good mood, the whale came up multiple times always showing the fluke and even surprised us extremely close to our bow! When another boat arrived we decided to head on and give this one some space. We had already spotted another humpback so made our way over and had a look at this one. This individual was a bit fluke shy and only lifted it lazily a few times. We shared a few moments together before spotting some white beaked dolphins and heading there. It was a small pod of 4-6 individuals, probably feeding. They swam right up to us and often under the boat so we managed to get a good look and their beautiful pattern through the water. We then ran out of time so headed back, but before that did manage to see 1 minke whale quite often and fairly close to the boat. We did see 2 more minkes on the tour though these were more in the distance. Three species for one tour made us all very happy so we put on the music and headed back to land.

- Anna Richter

Report from Eldey: We embarked so excited to go to the same hot spots than last tours. The seas was calm and also with rain. After a while, we saw our first humpback whale whose was lunge feeding but we decided to go to other spot because we were up to 3 boats on the area. Minutes later, another humpback whale appeared, this one gave us a glimpse of its tail during few sightings and also we saw a tricky minke whale. We decided to leave it and keep exploring other spots and suddenly we saw a blow in the distance and other minke whale. We went more close to it and it was beautiful because it popped up so close to the boat and also lunge feeding. We stayed 10 minutes and after the last fluke we decided to come back to the harbor. During the way I saw the humpback whale saying goodbye with a half breaching. I hadn't words to describe the sighting... THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!. Everyone was so excited with the tour!!  

- Sergi Gonzalez

Report from Eldey: Our midnight tour started by sailing out to Faxafloi bay with some cozy hot drinks and high hopes. We sailed heading to the area where the previous tours spotted some whales. It took us about half and hour before we where able to spot our first blow! A humpback whale! The whale was slowly diving close to the boat showing the beautiful fluke before diving down for a couple of minutes. Then we noticed a second blow! We had 2 humpbacks in the area! We watched them both for a while before we decided to adventure further out to the bay! But our effort payed off! We spotted 2 more blows and as we where approaching we started noticing some action! as we got closer the two whales lunge fed right in front of hour boat! What a sighting! but it was not the end, as they continued to lunge feed close to us. One whale came closer to our boat before she lunged in front of our bow repeatedly, moving around the boat as she was feeding so that everyone could get a prefect view!  We were able to see another blow a bit further away increasing our count to 5 humpback whales but unfortunately it was time to go home. So we gave one last look at the humpbacks in the sunset light and we started our journey back to the harbour.

-Maria Ernesto

Atlantic puffin, black guillemot, Northern gannet, Northern fulmar, herring gull, common gull, great black-backed gull, lesser black-backed, Arctic tern