Status: RUNNING
Tour at 17:00
Report from Elding: IF YOU DON´T LIKE THE WEATHER, WAIT 5 MINUTES. Another tour that teaches us the meaning of this icelandic joke: sun, hail, sun, snow, sun. Absolutely incredible the Icelandic interchangable weather that can occur in just a few minutes. As soon as we left the harbour and sailed past the puffin islands, Akurey and Engey we were greated by 2-3 harbour porpoises that surfaced regularly and one just a few meters from our boat, for a brief few seconds even we could see it swimming through the water just beneath the surface. A nice seletion of bird species out today also for the bird enthusiasts amongst us. After about an hours sailing offshore we were in a more productive area with flocks of birds and two humpback whales. A good 2 km from each other so we stayed with one for a short while, watched it feed, and waved its huge pectoral fin almost like it was waving to us. Very laid back, slowly surfacing whale, feeding on the large amount of food just beneath the surface. Once finished feeding it was very hard to track and follow so we went searching for the other. This individual also suddenly starting diving for long periods, so unfortunatly only saw in the distance. Time was running out and we were far out in the bay so we had to head home. A great day on the bay.
- Megan Whittaker
Tour at 13:00
Report from Elding: Weather keep surprising us. It was snowing a little bit before we left harbour, later on we had sunshine and then another massive snow storm started. Luckily, it didn't last long and we could again enjoy sun. Quite fast after leaving harbour we found pod of 4-5 harbour porpoises swimming close by to the boat. It was a good beginning. It take us more time till we saw first blow from bigger animal. Area was full of sea-birds: fulmars, kittiwakes, puffins and gannets. Gannets were feeding performing famous dives from the sky. First we saw minke whale. Animal passed by fast, surfacing only twice. We keep looking and finally we spotted a humpback whale. It was amazing! Whale was relaxed, letting us come close and we could watch it feeding coming to surface with full mouth. It was very exciting!
- Ewa Malinowska
Tour at 09:00
Report from Elding: After a couple of days of rough sailing, today's sea conditions were a pure blessing! Sure, it was a tad cold, but we got that glorious sunshine and blue sky with us all along the tour! It was already a pleasant experience to sail in Faxafloi under these circumstances, but we also had a galore of cetaceans to make the trip perfect. First, we encountered a pod of 5-7 white-beaked dolphins not even half an hour after departure. Among them were 3 calves. The family proved to be relaxed and stayed with us for a long time. Our boat was stopped and they just stick with us until we took the decision of leaving to find something else. After a while, we spotted an enormous blow in the distance, and ended up in an area where a humpback whale was feeding! It was not easy to get closer to this individual, as it was feeding close to the sea bed, therefore constantly diving down after surfacing for only a couple of times. To keep us company in between the dives, there were the harbour porpoises, about 10 of them, popping up there and there. We came, we saw, and we had our fill, so we eventually went back to Reykjavik in due time.
- Guillaume Calcagni
Bird species seen on today's tours include: northern gannet. northern fulmar, Atlantic puffin, razorbill, common guillemot, black-legged kittiwake, cormorant, manx shearwater, arctic tern, arctic skua, eider duck.
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik on this beautiful day. The sun is shining and little to no wind but there could be some swells out on Faxabay due to the wind the last few days. Hope you will be able to join us our search for these magnificent animals in their natural environment.
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